


The Transfer

by saintsfan165



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bullying, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Krolia (Voltron) is a Good Parent, Mild Language, Out of Character, Secret Identity, Secret Relationship, Sporadic Updates, Street Racing, Supportive Krolia (Voltron), Underage Drinking, voltron doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-01-12 19:31:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 26,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18453155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saintsfan165/pseuds/saintsfan165
Summary: Keith is the newest transfer at Atlea Academy, the most inclusive and advanced school in Daibazaltea. Keith is feeling blessed to attend, having won a scholarship. Daibazaltea is separated into two districts. The upper circle where the wealthy live along with Altean Academy. And the lower ring, where the middle/lower class reside, including Keith. Most students wouldn't be caught dead socializing with a lower ring citizen, but Luka is not most students





	1. Welcome To Altea Academy

**Author's Note:**

> I just love me some Keith/Pretty Alien Babe stories. (Acxa, Allura, Romelle, and now Luka).

Keith glanced up at the entrance. He read the large letters saying "WELCOME TO ALTEA ACADEMY". He doubted that they truly meant it, he hardly felt it. He gulped with fear as he entered his new school. 

Keith had always considered himself unlucky and unworthy, but fate thought otherwise. His mother had convinced him to apply for the "once in a lifetime" scholarship offered by Altea Academy. It was the premier school for anyone who was anyone. 

He had always heard about how getting into the Academy was nearly impossible, unless you were extremely wealthy or had the best connections, most students had both. Keith had to work for everything. It was just him and his mom since he could remember. They both worked at his Father's auto shop, "Koganes Auto Repair". He'd been working there since he was 10, helping his mother and his uncle Kolivan. So when Krolia asked him to just try it, he felt compelled to not disappoint her. He loved his mom and did whatever he could to help. And that meant making sure she didn't have to pay a ridiculous amount of money just for him to get a decent education. 

He entered the schools halls, he didn't bother with the multiple stares he received. He was used to it by now. But he didn't notice the short boy standing in front of him as he bumped into him knocking the papers out of their hand. 

"Oh shit, I'm sorry dude." Keith said as he knelt down to pick up the disheveled mess of paperwork.

"Dude? I'm not a guy. My name is Katie Holt. But I go by Pidge." The short teen girl added. 

"Oh shit, I'm sorry. I guess the short hair threw me off." He apologized as he tried to reorganize the papers before handing them back to her. He noticed that a few papers had his name on it. "Wait, why do these papers have my name?"

"So you're Keith Kogane." She said as she took a step back to examine him. "Not what I had in mind. But that's fine. I'm your school guide." She outstretched her hand. Keith responded with a hand of his own. "Nice to meet you Keith."

"Nice to meet you too." 

She looked down at her papers as she beckoned him to follow. "A lower ring kid I see." 

Keith hesitated, already he was being judged. "Uhhh, yeah. Is that an issue?" 

"What? No, not for me at least. But some others might have a problem with it. Specifically "Prince" Lotor, he kind of runs the school with his pack of loyal goons. Pray you don't get on their bad side." She handed him a piece of paper. "this is your schedule. Now c'mon let me show you around."

"So how did you get stuck showing the new kid around?" Keith shyly asked as he followed her down the halls out into a large extravagant courtyard. 

"I volunteered. I'm only a sophomore so I don't have much say, but I hope by next year I can be vice president of the school. One of my former friends, Allura, is currently the president of the student body, she's a junior like yourself." 

"Former?" 

She rolled her eyes at the thought of Allura. "yeah she was part of my friends group. That is until she started dating Lotor and became a "popular girl". It was me, my boyfriend Lance, our pal Hunk, her and Shiro. We practically grew-" 

"Wait you know Shiro?" Keith interrupted.

"Yeah, he's my favorite senior and kind of the big brother of the group. How do you know him?" 

"It's sort of a long story, but when we were kids we we're really good friends until him and his parents moved to the upper ring." He said softly, why did everyone always abandon him.

"That's rough buddy, but Shiro is well Shiro, I'm sure you two will go back to being best buds." She said cheerful as she came to a stop. "This is the mess hall, the most important class in the entire Academy." 

Keith looked around. It was large and filled with all sorts of students. But one student stood out. A beautiful red head who was practically skipping towards them. "whoa" was all he mustered to say. As she sat down by some other pretty girls.

"Hey Earth to Keith." Pidge says as she slightly elbows him in the ribs. "Don't get your hopes up. Those are the most popular girls in school. Romelle, Allura, Merla, and her sister Luka." 

"So their the mean girls of the school?" 

"Actually no. They're actually all amazing, it's super annoying." She said annoyed. She pulled Keith's arm and lead him away from the mess hall. "C'mon. There's a few more things to show you." Keith followed Pidge as she showed him the science, english, economics/government buildings. "Alright seems were at the end of our tour. Do you have any questions?" 

"Actually yes. I've heard that the upper ring likes to compete in illegal street racing. Including some students here." 

Keith watched Pidges reaction, she was very surprised to say the least. "ummm, I have no idea what you're talking about." She lied as she frantically scribbled something on a paper before shoving it into Keiths palm. "I gotta go. I'll see you later maybe " she sprinted away from him. 

Keith looked down at the paper and written on it was "don't talk about it here. This is my number. Just trust me." Keith pulled out his phone and put her number in. 

He released a sigh of relief, he quite possibly made a friend on his very first day. Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all. He looked up as he heard the class bell ring. It was time to start lectures.


	2. Subway Ride Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith just finished his first day. He didn't see Pidge the rest of the day. He found himself riding on the subway making the thirty minute trip home. He decides to text Pidge to get some answers.

Keith pulled out his phone and placed his headphones in as he did everytime he rode the subway. He searched his music for the perfect playlist. He instantly picks out some music by "Pixies." 

He then decide to reach out to Pidge. She seemed really kind given their limited interaction earlier that day. 

 

**hey Pidge it's Keith**

**...**

**...**

**Hey Keith how was your first day?? ")**

**Uneventful but I like it that way. Just want to keep my head down and not cause any trouble.**

**...**

**...**

**Yeah that's smart. Sorry about freaking out earlier. The underground racing scene is... Tricky.**

**...**

**...**

**That's ok. I didn't meant u freak you out. I just heard that a lot of the students like to participate or bet.**

**...**

**Yeah, Lance has taken me a few times. It's just not really my scene. But if you want you should talk to Shiro. He likes to compete. But you probably shouldn't.**

**Why not?**

**...**

**...**

**Well, it's a waste of money. You have to pay to compete.**

**And I don't exactly scream filthy rich lol**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**No that's not what I meant. It's a waste or money because The Red Paladin always wins. He's undefeated since he started competing two years ago.**

**...**

**...**

**The Red Paladin?? We call him Strider here in the lower ring. He's sort of a hero among the lower ring. He steals from the rich and gives to the poor. A modern day Robin Hood if you ask me**

**...**

**...**

**Sounds like someone's in love lol :p**

**No, it's just nice to know someone is looking out for the lower ring folks**

**...**

**...**

**Folks? What are you some old timey prospector?**

**...**

**Whatever! -.-**

**...**

**...**

**Well Keith I have to go, chemistry hw. But find me at lunch tomorrow. I'll introduce you to the gang. They would love to meet you.**

**...**

**...**

**Ok sounds good to me.**

 

 

Keith closed his eyes and started to drift into relaxed state of mind. The Red Paladin. So that's what people called him. 


	3. Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith talks to Shiro for the first time in over 11 years

Keith sat alone on his bed relaxing as ''This is the Last Time" by The National echoed through his room. It had been a long day, he had his first day of school, then immediately had to help him mom and Kolivan at the shop. It helped that his and Krolia's place was located directly above the shop.

He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. It's a text from an unknown number. 

 

**hey Keith it's Shiro. Hope you don't mind but Pidge gave me your number.**

**oh hey shiro. How's it going? Long time.**

**Yes it has been. What's it been, like 6 or 7 years? Lol**

**...**

**Try 11**

**Oh shit really? Wow I can't believe that it's been that long. But I'm glad to see you and you're parents have moved on up from the lower ring.**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Well we aren't. My mom and I still live in the lower ring. Her and I keep the shop running as best as we can. I'm only at Altea Academy because I won some stupid lottery scholarship thing.**

**And how's Tex doing? Still fixing cars.**

**My dad passed away 10 years ago. It's just me and my mom.**

**I'm.. I'm sorry Keith.**

**Don't be. It's been 10 years I'm over it.**

**Ok, if you say so.**

**So what do you want?**

**Well I just wanted to reach out and let you know you aren't alone at school. And also to avoid Lotor and his goons. They're bitches and will totally fuck you up.**

**yeah I've heard of him. What's wrong with him?**

**...**

**...**

**Not a lot really. He's a genuine guy, he's the star athlete and head of the fundraising committee, he brings in tons of profit for the school. But he's been raised by his father Zarkon. You know the mayor of Daibazaltea. The guy is a total bigot and hates lower ring citizens, so naturally it was bound to rub off on his son.**

**...**

**And I'm supposed to avoid him because??**

**You shouldn't have any problems so long as you stay away from his girlfriend and childhood friends. He's pretty protective.**

**How am I supposed to know who those are?**

**Pidge told me you were making googly eyes at Luka.**

**Luka?**

**The red head altean. Her and her older sister Merla are almost as much or royalty as Lotor is. They three of them are long time child hood friends, plus their uncle Coran is the headmaster.**

**Well you don't have to worry I won't go near them. Thanks I guess.**

**Don't mention it. Just know I got your back. Always.**

 

Keith tossed his phone towards the end of his bed. He didn't want to believe in Shiro's words. He's heard them before. 

He closes his eyes to remember his last encounter with his father.

He had just gotten in a fight at school. It was shortly after his only friend Shiro moved away. He was left vulnerable to the harsh words his bullies called him. Shiro always had his back whenever the kids called him half-breed or made fun of him. But he was gone. He had to protect himself, so he fought. He fought everyone who ever said anything mean to him. 

Krolia was livid with his poor choices. Tex came to him with understanding. He promised to always have his back. Later that night he got a call, a high end client needed a tow. He left and never came back. He died a hero, protecting the client from a mugger. That's where things turned worse for him. He lost his best friend and his father. At least he still has his mom, that's all he needs.

He heard his phone vibrate snapping him out of his memories. He just let it go. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. It vibrated a few minutes later. He was still unable to bring himself to look. He just let himself fall asleep to the soothing voice of Matt Berninger lull him to bed.

The next morning he decided to check his unread texts. He was surprised to see it was from one of his sources. All it said was .

**Friday. Port 1 Dock 12. Midnight.**

He smiled. He quickly ran down to the shop and uncovered his true love, his beauty, a blood red Honda Blackbird. "Hello Red. It's been a minute, it's time we reintroduce ourselves. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about bikes. I just googled fastest motorcycles. And it seemed like the most reasonable non "superbike" to use


	4. The New Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A different POV.

*Lunch Earlier that Day*

 

Luka gracefully skipped along through the cafeteria as she made her way to table full of her friends. She glanced at the exit and saw an attractive young man standing next to the try hard sophomore, Pidge.

She flashed them both a quick smile and proceeded to take her place among her friends. She placed herself in between her sister Merla, and her best friend Romelle. She sat across from the newest addition of their group, Allura.

"Hey what's up?" She asked before taking a bit of her sandwich. 

"Nothing much, just waiting." Allura acknowledged. It was a dreadfully boring day on campus. Everyone was sitting on edge, eagerly waiting to get an update on the next races. 

"So does anyone want to acknowledge the new kid staring at us?" Merla asked. 

"I don't think he's starting at us. More like one person in particular." She teased as she stared deeply at Luka. 

"Hmmm, looks like your right. Do you know him sis?" Merla questioned. She knew the answer, but it was always fun to put her on the spot. 

Luka glared at her sister. "Of course not. He's new, I've never seen him before in my life." 

"Still, you gotta admit, he is pretty handsome." Romelle pointed out as she giggles. Luka just rolls her eyes trying not to give any of them the satisfaction. 

"Is that a face tattoo? Is it weird that he's totally pulling it off?" Allura asked as she started to giggle. She rarely got to gossip about boys with her other friends. Pidge wasn't the "girl talk" type. 

Lotor apporached and took a seat joining them. He places a small kiss on Allura's lips. "What are you lovely ladies talking about?" 

"The new pretty boy over there with the cool... Scar? Face tattoo? It's unclear, but he's pulling off." Merla says. The rest of the girls giggled, including Luka. They always give Lotor a hard time. He hated feeling left out. 

"What does it matter? It's probably some half-breed deformity." Lotor points out with a seriousness in his voice causing the four girls to stop giggling. 

"That's pretty rude, I mean how could you say that? You don't even know him.?" Luka snapped coming to the new kids defense. She didn't know him either, but she knew Lotor well enough to know he was quick to judge. 

"He's the scholarship winner. Those kids always drop out, they know they don't belong here. Why do you even care?" He asked. His voice shifted to a slight intensity. No one tried to question his statements or call him wrong. He didn't appreciate it. Especially coming from someone he considered family.

"Let it go, Luka is just defending her new boyfriend." Merla interjected trying to ease the stiffening air. "She just liked that he was checking her out." She wanted to play it off, she knew that Lotor could be quite intense over anyone calling him out. 

"Luka, did he check you out? Tell me." He commanded. 

"Not really, that Pidge girl was probably showing him around the cafeteria and we made eye contact." She knew that if Lotor thought the new kid was actually checking her out, he would make sure he never made that mistake again. He may mean well, but he has a terrible way of showing it.

Just when Lotor was about to comment all of their phones buzzed. They all immediately went to check them. 

 

**Friday. Port 1. Dock 12. Cars 11pm. Bikes 12pm.**

 

"Oh shit, it's on!" Lotor excstatically says. "I'm going to wreck tomorrow night." 

"Are you doing cars or bikes? Because even though he hasn't been seen in two months, the Red Paladin will absolutely destroy you on the bike." Luka teased. Everyone knew how passionate Lotor was about winning the Voltron races. He was a champion when it came to car racing. But bikes, well bikes belonged to The Red Paladin.

"Yeah well like you said he's gone." Lotor proudly pointed out. He was extemely confident that he would win both races tomorrow night.

"Don't forget about Black Siren. Since The Red Paladin vanished, Black Siren has been cleaning up on the bikes." Allura added, much to her boyfriend's chagrin.

"Well she's never raced me." 

 _oh I definitely have._ Luka thought to herself.

Allura turned to Luka. "Are you finally going to join us? You would enjoy it, it's tons of fun."

"No, I'm good. Since somebody-" she turns to look at Merla. "--won't let me join as a racer for, and I quote "safety reasons". I don't even want to go to those stupid races anymore," she lied. No one could know of her secret lifestyle. Much like The Red Paladin, whom no one knew their true identity, she needed to keep it a secret. Pretending to be uninterested was the best way to not draw any suspicion.

Once school ended, Luka made an up a reason to excuse herself from her friends company. She hopped onto the subway and made her way to the lower ring .

A few stops later she exited. She walked along the narrow and crowded streets. She definitely didn't belong here. She just hoped she didn't stick out like a sorrowful thumb. Her bright orange hair didn't help her blend in. She walked a few blocks to a private storage locker facility. She quietly opened her garage revealing her midnight black Honda Thunderbird. "Hey there Lucky. Looks like we got another race to win." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The girls would totally all be silly gossips who talk about boys, let's be honest. Well at least in a high school scenario.


	5. Black Siren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith meets Lance and Hunk. And finds out about some new competition

Keith made his way through the cafeteria looking for an empty table. He wasn't afraid to eat alone, he felt alone his whole life. Eating by himself for thirty minutes wasn't going to be weird for him. 

He found a small vacant table towards the back corner of the cafeteria. He smiled it was a perfect spot. No one was going to notice him. 

He sat and started to eat his lunch. He started to eat his custom made sandwich from his favorite corner deli, Vrepit Sal's. Blissfully unaware of who was approaching. Until his sandwich was smacked out if is hand. 

"What the fuck dude?" He explained looking to up to his sandwich smacker.

"Dude? Do you know who I am?" Lotor retaliated. 

"Yeah, the piece of shit who owes me a sandwich." Keith stood to reach Lotor's eye level. 

"It's just a warning. You look at Luka like that again, that sandwich will be the least of your concerns." He threatened pushing Keith. He smirked and walked away. "you've been warned."

Suddenly Keith found himself no longer alone. Pidge, Shiro and two other students jumped to his rescue, joining him at his empty table. Shiro took his place next to Keith. Pidge and the two other boys sat across. 

"Ignore Lotor. He tries to act all tough but he's not a threat." A young Cuban boy said as he took his place next to Pidge. "Hey man I'm Lance. Nice to meet ya." 

Keith nodded politely. "Likewise." He turned to the bigger Samoan boy. "Hey I'm Keith." 

"Hunk." He gave a curteous smile. Keith sat in silence as he just sipped on his drink as he sort of listened to the four converse. He didn't have much input on their topics until they mentioned Voltron. 

"You guys go check out Voltron often?" He finally asked. 

"Yeah. But only if someone we know is racing. So tonight we're going to go to support Shiro. He's finally going to put Lotor in his place, aren't you?" Hunk asked as he enthusiastically turned to look at Shiro.

Shiro sighed, "Well only with the cars portion, hopefully. I'm not a very good biker. And I'm pretty sure he is going to do both races tonight." 

Keith looked at them strangly. He had no idea that there was car racing involved with Voltron races. Then again he only shows up right before the bike races and leaves the second he collects his winnings. 

"But, that new girl Black Siren is probably going to win bikes anyway." Lance pointed out. 

"Black Siren? Who is that?" Keith asked. He was truly out of the loop. Two months off and now he might have some actually competition. 

"You don't know who Black Siren is?!?!?" Pidge questioned a little to loudly. "Sorry. It's just that she's the hottest new racer. Ever since The Red Paladin disappeared two months ago, she's been winning every race. She keeps her secret a mystery too. Some even think that Black Siren IS The Red Paladin." 

Keith was intrigued. This Black Siren seemed to be legit. Ever since he started racing two years ago, he's been the most dominant racer ever. He's never lost, and the only time he had any real competition was when he first started to race. "So does anyone know anything else?" 

Lance chuckled, "that's funny. Of course not! She is a master spy. Only appears right before the initial race. Leaves right after she wins. Everyone loves her for the mystery that she is." 

"So she's a copy cat?" Keith said scornfully. He didn't like the idea of being replaced so easily as a crowd favorite. 

Shiro finally spoke up. "No, not entirely. Black Siren leaves right after. She doesn't even take the reward money. It's like she's racing just to prove a point. That's she's better than anyone and doesn't need their money. She doesn't take it and run like the Red Paladin." 

"Call down Shiro." Pidge said. She turned back to face Keith. "He's just jealous of the Red Paladin," she teased. Shiro shot her a look causing her to blush and let out a nervous laugh. "People used to think that he was the Red Paladin. But one day he showed up to prove that he wasn't, and was trying to show that he was better." 

"And?" Keith asked. He already knew the outcome but it was nice to hear some praise of his alter ego from actual people and not the Voltron Boards. 

"And.... He got embarrassed. The Red Paladin is undefeated. 199-0. It's incredible really." Lance added. 

"So what's Black Siren's record?" 

"She's only 18-0, but then again she's only been around for 2 months. I'm sure that she'll keep up the win streak, no one has even come close to beating her either." 

We'll see about that. I don't care who she is, she's going down. Keith thought to himself as he let out a small laugh. 

"So do you want to come tonight Keith? We can get you in. I have a plus one." Shiro asked. 

Keith just shook his head, "no. I can't. I have work to do at the shop. The client expects me to be done by tomorrow afternoon." 

"The shop? What shop?" Hunk asked. 

"Mine and my mom's. We run an Auto Repair shop with her cousin down on the lower ring. Off Santana St. and Moses Dr."

"Wait your from the lower ring?" Lance nervously asked. 

"Umm yeah." 

"Like you still live there. But come here?" Hunk nervously asked as well. 

"Yeah. Is that a problem?" 

"Yeah, I mean no." Hunk awkwardly said. "But I, I have to go." He stood up grabbed his things and walked away.

"Yeah me and Katie have to go too." Lance muttered as he grabbed his things and hastily pulled Pidge away from the table. 

Keith looked at Shiro with confusion. "What the fuck did I do?" 

"Nothing, it's just that. Well here in the upper ring, and more specifically at this school, there's a social class here. If someone is seen talking to someone let alone entering the lower ring, well they turn into outcasts making it nearly impossible to succeed here or in Daibazaltea." Shiro answered with a solemn tone. "Just trust me when I saw you don't want people to find out about you being a lower ring citizen. But I'm going to go talk to them so don't worry. I'll see ya Monday. Wish me luck for tonight though." He stood up and gave a small pat on Keith's back before turning and leaving.

Keith was alone again. Unsure of what was so wrong with being a middle class citizen. Daibazaltea was one city, not two, but it definitely never felt like one. He angrily sat alone as he finished his drink and his apple. 

"Hi." A friendly feminine voice said. 

Keith angirly looked up to see the altean girl he was told to stay away from.

"I just wanted to apologize for anything Lotor did or said. He can be a jerk sometimes. I'm Luka by the way." Luka said offering her hand. 

Keith stood and pushed her to the side and stormed out of the room "Just leave me alone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the best first interaction between our two main characters. But I'm sure these two will figure something out. 
> 
> Altea Academy suuuucks. It's extremely high society sophisticated. Social class is very real in this world.


	6. The Race

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The return of The Red Paladin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I definitely not good at writing a race, but the race itself wasn't the focus so I guess that makes up for it

Keith sat back in the shadows of the should be abandoned warehouse. His black and blood red race suit kept him well hidden from passerbys. The night was calm and filled with the cool breeze of the sea air. 

He had missed the racing scene, but he had to take care of his mom when she got sick. Thankfully she's healthy and better than ever which allows him to make his triumphant return as the Red Paladin. 

He was waiting to make his typical entrance, waiting until the last minute to show up. But now he had to wait longer, he knew the black siren copycat would show up just in time for the race to begin. He couldn't have her showing him up, she had to reveal herself first. He looked and saw his new acquaintances, they were trying to cheer up Shiro. Lotor must've won the first race. 

Keith scanned the scene searching for the white haired douchebag. Eventually, he spots him receiving a good luck kiss from a white haired women as well. That must be Pidge's former friend, Allura, he thought. He didn't understand how anyone would want to be with that asshole. 

His attention shifted when he heard a loud engine roaring from behind him. While remaining in the shadows, he watched as the presumably Black Siren took her place in the lineup. The rider received an enormous amount of cheers and applause. She was loved, that's for sure. Keith smirked, but no one would've been able to tell, his helmet prevented anyone from seeing his face. 

He started his Thunderbird and shot out of the shadows, jumping over a few bystanders and taking his place in the race. The reactions he received was priceless. Shock, gasps, whispers, doubt, and one person shouting “It's the Red fucking Paladin”. If people could see his face, they'd see his small chuckle. 

Luka was in complete shock and awe. The Red Paladin showed up, tonight of all nights. She couldn't believe it, and apparently no one else could either. She looked around and saw the looks of surprise that the spectators and other competitors had on their faces as well. Luka considered herself thankful that her blackout helmet could prevent anyone from seeing her face, if they could they could've seen her, they'd see her dropped jaw. 

Keith took his place beside her. The two racers stared at each other, there was an amount of respect and envy that they shared for one another. Keith gave her a subtle nod and turned to race track. Luka nervously looked between him and the other competitors. She never felt this nervous before a race, even in her first race she was confident, but now, now she was nervous. 

She was so nervous that she almost missed the flag signalling the start of the race. She quickly snapped herself out of it and immediately shot out in front. She had the lead for the first two laps. Just one more to go and she would give the Red Paladin their first loss. 

Keith was awestruck, the way she moved on her bike was admirable to say the least. Part of him didn't want to pass her because it was truly a sight to see, plus whoever the Black Siren was, she was pulling off the black leather look. 

He reminded himself that this was a race and he needed to pass her up to win and not get distracted anymore. He knew that the second turn was approaching, it was the sharpest turn of the course, one wrong move and you could end up in the harbor. Keith knew that this was his only shot to pass her up, if he didn't do it now odds were that he would never pass her. 

The second turn was practically a u-turn. The course took you straight at to the water and quickly turned back on itself without warning. The turn claimed many of first timers bikes, sending them straight into the water. Most riders took the turn wide and slow, to prevent damage to them or their bike, there were tons of hazardous materials on the course and turning wide avoided that. 

Keith watched as Black Siren slowed ever so slightly to make the turn. This was his shot. He kept his bike at the same speed as the turn came up. He slammed on his ebrake and drifted in front of her, the second he was in the clear he released the ebrake and gained the lead. 

Luka was in shock at the Red Paladin's recklessness. This was the most dangerous turn, everyone knew to slow down or risk falling into the water. The Red Paladin had other ideas, and it completely took her but surprise as she watched him pass her. She was so surprised by the move that she didn't notice the wall quickly approaching her right side as she slammed her and her bike into it. 

“Shit” she yelled. She quickly checked the damage to her bike. It didn't look to severe, she thought. But when she started at back up, she could hear the difference in the engine. She watched as the rest of the racers passed her by. 

There was no way she could finish the race and make it back to her private unit. She yelled in frustration throwing her helmet to the ground and left the race behind as she returned to her storage unit. 

Keith finished to a rapture of applause as people chanted his alter ego's name. He looked back at the challengers as one by one they all finished. He wanted to watch the disappointment in Lotor's face, which he did. He gleefully watched Lotor pout and complain about some fake issue with his bike, as if that was the reason Keith spanked him. 

Keith surveyed the rest of the racers and noticed that Black Siren was missing. He quickly collected his money and returned to the race course, looking to see if she was okay. All he found was her cracked helmet. She must have thrown it in frustration. He picked it up and took it back home with him.

He quietly snuck back into his place and secretly stored his winnings. By now he had close to $750,000, a little more and he and his mom could move out of this shithole. 

Keith showered and crawled into bed. Usually after a win he would replay the race in his mind, to figure out what he could improve on. But tonight, his thoughts were solely focused on one thing. Black Siren.


	7. Invited

Keith wakes up bright and early the shop opens at 8am but he finds himself up around 6am.

He checks his phone and finds that he missed a few texts from Pidge and her friends.

 

 

**L: hey it's Lance. Shiro talked to us I'm sorry we left. We understand if you don't want to be friends after how we reacted.**

**H: yeah this is Hunk. I'm sorry, but rest assured I'll bring you a huge batch of cookies on Monday.**

**P: so welcome to the group Keith.**

**S: Keith you missed it earlier. Shit was crazy.**

**H: yeah man Shiro almost beat Lotor, I'm pretty sure he somehow cheated.**

**L: yeah well he definitely cheated but that wasn't the craziest part. Do u remember the Red Paladin? The son of a bitch showed up.**

**P: it was nuts, he's been MIA for months and then just shows up like nothing's changed.**

**L: he fucked shit up. Easily won.**

**S: I heard he did a crazy stunt on turn 2 to pass Black Siren and win.**

**H: yeah wtf happened to her? She didn't even finish just vanished.**

**L: maybe Red Paladin killed her and tossed her body into the water**

**S: ha.ha. very funny**

**P: he really isn't**

**L: hey I have my moments**

**L: so you guys still coming over tonight? Parents are out of town so I'm throwing a huge rager**

**H: so it's just going to be us?**

**P: sounds like it**

**L: I swear I invited like all the upperclassmen and you Pidgey**

**P: don't call me that. And all the upperclassmen?**

**L: yeah why?**

**S: did u invite Allura?**

**L: of course. She may be too good for us now but she's still our friend**

**P: is she? She clearly doesn't act like it**

**H: shit of she's coming that mean Lotor will be there ugh that guy is a total buzzkill**

**S: well if it's a huge party as Lance promises then idk if you'll even have to talk to him**

**L: yeah he'll be talking about his win tonight… oh sorry Shiro**

**S: it's all good idc besides him and I have come to a mutual agreement about not bothering each other.**

**P: well I guess I'll go since ive got nothing better to do**

**L: when do you ever have something better to do?**

**P: none of your business thats when**

**H: well I will be there should be fun**

**L: oh and Keith, sorry forgot u were in this chat lol. But u should come. If u want no biggie I'm sure u r busy. Lemme know. Night guys**

**P: night**

**H: TTYL**

**P: ttyl? Are you a little girl**

**S: see you guys tomorrow**

**Thanks for the invite. I'll try :K**

 

Keith made his way to the kitchen where Krolia was making breakfast. “Morning Mom.” He said as he placed a small kiss on her forehead.

“Morning son, I hope you slept well, that client is expecting his bike to be done by 5pm.” She said offering him some bacon and eggs.

“Of course” Keith said with his mouth full. “I'm going to open my shop up a little early to get started. I got invited to a party tonight.”

Krolia smiled. “Oh Keith that's wonderful, I'm so glad you made friends.”

Keith returned her smile with one of his own. “Yeah they're nice, hopefully one day you'll meet them.” He quickly scarfed down the rest of his breakfast and made his way down to the shop.


	8. Sister's

Luka woke later than expected. The sun was beaming in through her blinds. Her room was small and comfortable just how she designed it. She had her bed, her vanity tucked in the corner at the edge of her bed. The softest carpet in the world that she found herself falling asleep on one too many times. And of course the comfiest love seat one could ask for with a tiny coffee table and a nice 45" TV mounted on the wall.

She had spent the better part of the night trying to fix the damage done to her bike to no avail. Defeated she snuck in back home knowing she had to take it to a professional mechanic the following morning.

She reached for her phone as saw that it was 10:45 am. She didn't remember when she fell asleep but it was definitely sometime after 3:00 am. She also noticed a ton of unanswered messages waiting for her to respond.

She quickly checked them to see if they were any important.

**Lotor: Surprise, surprise. Ya boi is champ. But stupid Red Paladin showed up and my bike acted funky so I lost.**

She rolled her eyes at his text. She knew all too well that he was outclassed by The Red Paladin, they all were. Luka saw a few texts from her sister.

 **Sis: Duuuude wtf why are you not home?**  
**…**  
 **…**  
 **Anyways the McClain kid is throwing a party tomorrow night. We're going. Wear something nice. Talk to you tomorrow morning. Be safe wherever you are.**  
 **…**  
 **…**  
 **Use protection ;)**

“Ugh” was all she replied to her sister. She knew she was teasing, but it didn't mean she would just allow it.

**One of us has to be getting some, since clearly you aren't lol**

She chuckled at her clever response and hit send. A minute later she heard a muffled “What the Fuck!” being yelled from her sisters room. Within seconds Merla had bursted into her room and swan dived on to Luka's bed.

“Please get your fat ass off of me, I can breath.” Luka teased.

“Now you're just being rude.”

“I was only kidding. About my text, definitely not getting any. Just went for a late night drive.”

“Sure” Merla said unconvinced. “So what are you wearing to the party tonight. You got to look cute. You never know what rich boy is going to be there.”

“I don't know if I want to even go.”

Merla fell back from her seat rolling her eyes in the process. “Ugh, why do you always have to be antisocial. Parties are a good way to just have fun. We deserve some fun, I know I do.”

Luka laid back taking her place beside Merla as the two sisters looked at the ceiling. “I have some stuff to take care of.”

“You always have stuff to do.”

“Yeah well I got homework to catch up on and I need to work on my bike.”

Merla scoffed. “I don't know why you have the need to rebuild a bike on your own. There's professionals for that shit. And all of them would do it for free when they figured out who we were relating to Uncle Coran.”

She had told her family about her goal to rebuild a bike from scratch half a year ago. It was a little white lie to give her some free range when it came to racing. Her family had no idea she had bought a brand new thunderbird and was actually out practicing her racing. “Yeah but it's the feeling of accomplishment. Of doing something on your own and not relying on others.”

“Yeah I guess. But how bout this. I'll make you a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Yeah you come to the party, don't worry I'll pick out your dress. And I won't tell Mom or Dad about your late night adventure. Deal?”

“Are you blackmailing me? Your own little sister!” Luka teased.

“Well of course.” Merla pulled herself off the carpeted floor. “I'll leave you to your errands or whatever, but the party starts at 10. So we're showing up at 11. So be ready by 10.”

“Yes Mom.” Luka said mockingly as she rolled her eyes.

Once Merla had left, Luka closed the door behind her and hopped onto her laptop. Merla was right, she couldn't go to any of upper ring auto repair shops, they were all to well connected and someone would recognize her or her bike.

She logged onto yelp and searched for lower ring auto repair shops. To her surprise there weren't that many, and most didn't have very kind reviews. But she finally came across “Kogane's Auto Repair”, it was 4.75/5 stars so she gave it a click.

Her eyes scanned the reviews and photos looking for anything motorcycle related. She saw every single 5 star review had mentioned motorcycle repair. “Amazing, cheap, fast.” it was everything she needed to hear. With luck, she would be racing by next week.

Luka pulled out her phone and entered the address and compared the distance to her storage unit. She couldn't believe the luck, it was only a five minute walk from her unit to the shop.

She wasn't going to bring her bike in right away, she wanted to meet the 5 star mechanic first. She had to find out if he was a trustworthy guy, unlike the last snake she did business with. Sendak, that piece of shit totally scammed her when she first started taking her bike into the shops.

Hopefully this was going to be a better experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not long, but a quick fix before I start getting into the "meat" of the story. Warning lots of Fluff and pining ahead. 
> 
> And thanks for the 15 hits. Literally like 12 more than I thought it was ever going to get.


	9. Kogane Auto Repair

Luka had let the day get away from her. Her chemistry and physics homework had taken her far longer than she anticipated. By the time she finished her clock was showing 6:30 pm. She cursed herself for her lack of time management. Kogane's Auto Repair closed at eight on weekends, there was no way that the bike repair specialist would still be there. But she had to at least try. 

She quickly changed out of her pajamas into a more appropriate outfit, a loose fitted t-shirt, her black leggings, and her white Adidas running shoes. She quickly combed her hair and put it up into a messy bun. It wasn't perfect, but it sufficed. 

She got into her key lime bug and drove down to the lower ring. It was roughly a twenty minute drive from her parents mansion to the auto shop. She pulled up in the parking lot, and clutched her purse as she locked her car and made her way to the entrance. While she wasn't susceptible to the rumors of constant muggings and assaults in the lower ring, she would rather be safe than sorry. 

She entered the store front and was greeted by a lovely galran woman. Her purple skin was flawless and meshed perfectly with her black hair. But Luka couldn't help but notice the woman, Krolia, her name tag plate showed, had a small tattoo on her left shoulder. She couldn't fully make it out completely but it looked like a circle with a line running through it. 

“Hello dear, how may I help you?” Krolia asked.

“Umm yes, hi. I was wondering if your motorcycle expert was still in. I wanted to get some assistance with my bike. I recently damaged it as was wondering if he would be able to fix it.” 

“Of course. Keith is still in. At least he better be,” she turned back towards the garage to look for him. “He must be working in his private shop right now. It's just around the corner of the building in the alley way.” She said pointing. “He'll be able to help you with whatever you need. That boy is one with the motorcycle.” 

Luka thanked her, and exited the shop and went around to the side. The alley wasn't sketchy or creepy like in law and order, her favorite guilty pleasure show. It was surprisingly well looked after, it wasn't filthy with trash, or had homeless taking shelter, which is what she had grown up believing the Lower Ring was like. 

She heard loud music playing from an opened garage door. She peeked around the entrance and saw a large galran man standing, he was yelling at someone. He must have just finished his argument for when he finished yelling, he turned and walked away towards Luka. The man stopped and greeted her asking if she needed any assistance.

Seeing his name badge said Kolivan, she paused, “well I'm just looking for a Mr. Keith, Krolia told me to find him here.” 

“He's hardly a Mr. I swear he's lucky that he's so skilled. He's in there under the bike. He'll help you.” Kolivan stepped to the side and ushered her back towards the garage. She saw he had the same tattoo as Krolia it was on his forearm. This time she was able to completely make it out, it was a gear cog with a blade running through it. Everyone knew it was the symbol for The Blade of Marmora, the biggest biker gang in the lower ring. Lotor told her and Merla all the crazy stories of the gang when they were young. 

She hesitantly thanked him and quickly slipped into the garage. Not paying attention she pumped right into someone. 

“Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, I- you?” 

“You?” Keith responded. 

To say she was surprised to see the scarred new kid would be an understatement, but yet here he was standing before her. She couldn't help how beautiful his eyes were, the deep violet iris was something she had never seen before in humans. She also noticed that despite having grease smeared on his face he was still extremely attractive. “You're that new kid.” Was all she could manage to say.

“Yeah and,” Keith said bluntly. He felt bad for coming of so rude, but he couldn't help it, it was part of his nature. He studied the girl as she studied him. It was the same girl who tried to introduce herself to him yesterday at lunch, the one he was rude to, again. He was not off to a good start with the beautiful altean girl standing before him. He had to fix that and try to be nicer. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked

“Isn’t it obvious, I work here,” Keith said dryly before pausing, “sorry. I'm just surprised. I don't get anyone coming here who recognizes me. Unless they're a returning client.”

“No I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so blunt. It's just that no one from our school has ever had a job, let alone lives here in the lower ring” 

“Who says I live here?”

Luka wanted to laugh, “it's obvious. I just said no one has a job, like a real job, because they're rich kids, they wouldn't choose this. So you must need it. Not that there's anything wrong with it. It's admirable to have a skill like this. You have like a thousand five star reviews, so clearly you're really good.” 

Keith blushed, no one really complimented him on his work outside of paying customers. Luka noticed, she stared in awe as the red consumed the boys cheeks. If he wasn't cute before, than she didn't know what this was. 

“So uhh how can I help you uhh Lucas?” 

“Luka,” she corrected. 

“Shit, I'm sorry.” 

“Don't worry about it Keith.” 

“How do you know my name.” 

Luka giggled as she pointed out his name badge.

“Oh yeah, right,” Keith said embarrassed. Although, he couldn't deny that her little giggle was quite adorable. It was certainly something he would enjoy hearing again.

“Anyways, I'm here because I need some help with my bike,” Luka said as she pulled out her phone and showed Keith the images she took of all the damage.

Keith recognized the bike immediately. This bike belonged to Black Siren. He looked at the bike and then back to Luka, then back at the bike and back to Luka. His jealousy for Black Siren seemed to have vanished, and was replaced with admiration. This girl was something else, and he wanted to find out exactly what she was. Pretty? Yes obviously, but there was more to her and he found himself suddenly drawn to her like a moth to a flame. 

“Well it looks pretty damaged but I wouldn't be able to fully assess it until you bring it in. Would later tonight work? I can stay open a little later.”

She wanted to say yes, but it was late and she knew that if she was gone for more than an hour in the lower ring her parents would flip. “I can't. I know this sounds dumb, but I need to get back home to shower and get ready for a party.” 

“Lance McClain's party?” 

Luka tilted her head surprised. “Actually yes. How did you know?” 

“Well he invited me, he's sort of my newest friend.” 

Keith decided to escort Luka back to her car, and upon seeing her bug he couldn't help himself but laugh, “Well that's certainly… bright.” 

“Hey, don't judge this is my favorite color. I've had Kiki picked out since I was twelve.” 

“Kiki?”

“Yeah because it's a cute name for a cute car. And Key Lime doesn't flow off the tongue,” She said as she got into her car and started the engine. 

“Oh and by the way, Lance isn't your newest friend” Luka said playfully.

Keith found himself confused. Was Lance not actually his friend. “What?”

Luka giggled, “I'm your newest friend now. If you want.”

There it was again, that damned laugh. Keith couldn't help but to smile, “uhh yeah sure. That'd be nice. But there's this thing with that Lotor guy-”

“Don't worry about Lotor,” she interrupted. “He's an old childhood friend and is super protective of me and my sister. But he can't tell me who I can and can't choose as my friend.” 

“Well then I won't,” he blushed. It was nice to have a normal conversation with someone from school, someone who wasn't treating him differently by being from the Lower Ring.

“Anyways I should get going. I hope I see you tonight. And heads up, having a friend like me will change your life,” she said as she drove off.” 

“I bet,” Keith said to himself as he smiled and waved goodbye.


	10. The Party

Like Merla had said, Luka and her friends arrived at the McClains at eleven o'clock sharp.

"Hmmm, a lot more crowded than I would've expected. I mean McClain is decently know, but I didn't think this well known," Lotor observed.

"Damn, there's got to be well over a hundred people here," Merla added.

The four friends made their way through the surprisingly crowded grand entrance of the McClain estate.

"Welcome to casa de McLain! Allura what's up!?!? Drinks are in the kitchen and out on the veranda. The pool and hot tub are open… clothing optional ladies," Lance drunkenly said ignoring Lotor's glower. "And yeah all drinking games are in the game room to the right or left. And no one upstairs," he finished saying as he downed his fifth cocktail in the last hour. "And whatever you do, don't let Katie make your drinks… WOO!!!" he shouted as he ran off to another part of the mansion.

"I can't believe you used to hangout with that imbecile," Lotor snarled.

"Lance is all talk, he's a flirt and an idiot, but he's a lovable idiot," Allura shyly said. She hated to admit that she missed Pidge's crazy concoctions and right now she would rather be with them. They were always so fun at parties, while Lotor turned things into a networking opportunity.

"Idiot is one way to describe him."

The conversation was lost on Luka whose attention had been focused on finding one person.

"... Don't you agree Luka?" Lotor had asked.

Luka pulled herself out of her own head, "huh? Yeah totally, whatever. So I'm going to grab a drink and mingle… bye!!" She scurried off away from Lotor's buzzkill.

She wandered for several minutes exploring the vast halls and rooms of the mansion. She studied a few of the displayed art, before making her way to the kitchen to find Katie Holt and get one of her infamous drinks.

"Hi there. I hear you're the woman to seek if I want a drink," Luka said with a smile on her face.

"Oh you've come to the right place. Katie Holt, bartender extraordinaire. What's your poison?"

Luka glanced over to the seemingly endless supply of alcohol. "Wow, that's a lot of liquor. There's like twenty different vodkas."

"So you're a vodka girl. True to my own heart. Here let me make you one of my favorites," Pidge said with a devilish smile.

Luka watched in slight terror for her liver as Pidge generously poured some vodka, blue raspberry svedka into a cup before adding a splash of lemonade. "One spiked blue raspberry lemonade." Pidge said as she handed the drink over to Luka. "Please take a sip let me know what you think."

Luka took a deep breath before taking the smallest of sips. "You don't like it," Pidge said defeated. "It's two strong I know. Here," she said as she grabbed the cup from Luka's hand. "Let me remake this. I'll go a little lighter."

Pidge remade the drink this time adding significantly less vodka and more lemonade. "Alright this should be perfect."

Luka happily took the drink from her. The second the liquid hit her lips she consumed it as if she was stuck in the desert for the last five days. "Holy quiznack that was amazing. Could you please make me another Katie… or is it Pidge?"

"Ehh I've heard it both ways. Most people call me Katie, but my closest friends call me Pidge. And of course I'll make us like ten more."

"Us? Ten?"

"Yeah, you and I are about to become very close. We've bonded over the same drink, that's a lifelong bond," Pidge teased. "And besides, Lance and Hunk are bound to do something stupid, and I need another girl to sit there and silently judge them like Allu- like a friend and I used to do."

Luka knew exactly who that friend was. And speak of the devil, she looked down as her phone buzzed.

 

**A: Luka where are you? We need to leave. Lotor and Shiro got into some fight and we have to take him home rn**

Luka rolled her eyes, of course Lotor would ruin the night, but she was set on seeing Keith and Katie seemed like such a genuinely nice girl to hangout with.

**Actually I'm staying. I'll Lyft home. Night**

**…**  
**…**  
**A: Are you sure? Merla says you should come, you already stayed out late last night.**

  
**Yes. I'll b fine**

  
**A: K get home safe.**

 

Luka put her phone back in her pocket. She was glad she convinced Merla to let her wear her ripped jeans and a light jacket. It was way more her style than some over the top dress. She turned her attention back to Pidge, "Sorry. Stupid Lotor apparently he and Shiro just got into some dumb fight. No doubt it was over whatever happened last night."

Pidge rolled her eyes, "Oh yes I'm sure. They have quite the little rivalry. Ugh boys and their dick measuring contests."

"Tell me about it. But Lance doesn't seem so bad. He's the lovable idiot goofball type, I'm sure he doesn't get suckered into shit like that," Luka said as the two made their way outside, as many drinks as possible in hand.

They sat underneath a pergola that looked out at the pool and jacuzzi. "You'd be surprised. Lance is MY loveable idiot, but he's just a much a bro as the rest of them."

Luka saw this as her chance to ask about Keith. If anyone knew about Keith, it was Pidge. "What about that new kid Keith? Is he a bro?"

Pidge sipped on her drink as she contemplated her answer, "Hmm I honestly don't know. He's very much a quiet, don't mess with me type. You saw that in action yesterday when he snapped at you. Sorry about that, it was definitely our fault."

"How so?"

"We didn't really make the best first impression and came off a bit cold. He probably thought we didn't like him, but that's not true. He's an honest guy, and everyone could use honesty."

Luka sat back as she nursed her second cocktail. "I could see that. It helps that he's hot right?"

"Oh totally hot. I don't know what it is, but he's got it. I mean his eyes, that scar like damn."

Luka and Pidge laughed as the effects of their rapid alcohol consumption had started. "He's different than any guy I've met."

"Well duh Luka, no guy at school would dare snap at you like that. They know who your uncle is and worse, they know how close you are to Lotor."

"Ugh, I swear he's been getting on my nerves lately. He's so overprotective with me, with my sister, and now with Allur- with his girlfriend." She stopped knowing that there was bad blood between the two. She wasn't sure what, but it was enough that Allura didn't speak Katie's name and Katie didn't speak Allura's.

"What is your deal with Lotor anyway?" Pidge asked as she consumed the fourth drink.

"Well it's a long story but basically, our father's were very close business partners and friends. Most business meetings were held at our house or Lotor's and we grew up playing together. When my parents died during that string of robberies, Zarkon offered us and Uncle Coran assistance. Lotor made it his personal responsibility to take care of me and Merla even though technically Merla is like two months older."

Pidge sighed, "I'm sorry. Losing family can be rough. My brother went missing last year. It was his first semester at Oriande University."

"I'm sorry for your lose Katie."

"Please, it's Pidge. I told you we'd bond because of these drinks," she said as she shyly laughed.

"Yeah looks like it." The two smiled as they embraced in a hug. "So it looks like-"

"SKINNY DIPPING HOUR IN THE POOL!!" A drunken Lance shouted as he and Hunk stripped and dove into the pool. A few other drunken students followed suit as they stripped and dove in.

"holy quiznack! You've got to be kidding me…" Pidge said in near shock. "Lance put your damn pants on or I swear to god I will dumb you right here in front of everyone." She shouted. "I'm sorry, I have to deal with this idiot."

"No problem. I understand. I was probably going to head out now. It's… holy quiznack it's almost two am."

"Awesome. Well here give me your phone. If you ever want to talk or hangout, just hit me up. I'm typically free." Pidge said as she put her number in. "I'll talk to you soon. Get home safe."

"Thanks," Luka said as she watched Pidge run off for some towels. "And good luck."

Luka forced herself up. Standing to fast and being a bit too tipsy, she paused as her head spun. "Ah quiznack."

She stumbled out to the front of the mansion and took a seat by the fountain. She pulled out her phone and went to order her Lyft.

"You okay?" A comforting familiar voice asked.

"Better now." Luka said as she turned to face Keith. "So where the hell were you?"

"I got her like an hour ago. But I don't really know anyone so I kind of just stuck to the walls."

"Oh my god your totally like Charlie Kelmeckis."

Keith approached and took his place sitting beside Luka. "Who the hell is that."

"It's the main guy from Perks of Being a Wallflower. You know the movie?"

"No I don't say that I do."

"Well I'll have to show you it, it's one of my favorites. Plus Logan Lermon is cute just like you."

"Wow someone must have hit the nunvil a bit to hard," Keith teased.

Luka blushed, "Not that hard and definitely not nunvil. But you don't need to sit here and listen to me be tipsy and say stupid things. My Lyft is only like ten minutes away."

"Well then I'll wait with you. In silence of course. Assuming you can even pull that off."

Luka playfully shoved Keith, "of course I can. I'm the queen of quiet."

Keith chuckled, "said the loudest person here."

The two sat in silence and stargazed for well over twenty minutes until Keith finally broke the comfortable silence. "Shouldn't your Lyft be her by now?" He finally asked.

Luka pulled out her phone and immediately smacked herself in the head, and turned to hid her embarrassment. "I never ordered it."

"No way, that's too funny."

"No it's not. Now the closest Lyft driver is twenty-five minutes away, and it's…. IT'S 2:21 AM!!!" Luka couldn't believe that it was that late, Merla was going to kill her tomorrow morning.

Keith stood up and stretched. "Well that's way too long to wait. Come on, I'll drive you home."

"No, I can't accept that offer."

"Please, I. Right here and I'm free. Just get on my bike and we'll be at your place in no time. Assuming your place is close."

Luka perched up at the mention of Keith's bike. The cool night breeze on her face would definitely help sober her up, plus holding tightly onto Keith wouldn't be so bad either. "A bike you say? Well why didn't you say that earlier, let's go!"


	11. Late Nite Lyft

"Soooo. That's a cool bike," Luka tipsily said.

"Oh yeah, it's my other bike. For uhh… regular activities," Keith muttered.

"Regular activities huh," Luka giggled. "That doesn't sound suspicious at all. So you have another bike then?"

Keith was a bit flustered, he never talked about his "other" bike with anyone. He wasn't sure what to tell her. On one hand she seemed trustworthy, on the other hand, she was technically his competition. He liked this girl, she was kind and quite pretty, plus she seemed to not mind him being from the lower ring. "Oh well it's my dad's. I've been repairing it for years now," He lied. It was easier to lie and keep these two world's separate while their new friendship blossomed. That's what he told himself.

"I'd love to see it one day," she said as Keith handed her his helmet. "Aren't you going to wear one?"

Keith smirked, "well I would've but a certain altean had forget to order a ride."

"Well I'm sure that altean is very sorry about being a bit too tipsy," she said loudly as Keith started his bike. The engine roared and echoed through the party causing some of the students who were leaving to jump. "Bit loud don't you think?"

"Well that's how we like it. Loud and proud. But it only does that when I start it or when I'm trying to impress someone," he said sarcastically winking at her. The two rested on the bike as Keith accelerated down the driveway and down the street.

"We?" Luka finally asked.

"Yeah the blades. This is their standard bike. Well not necessarily this H-D low rider here, but a Cruiser definitely."

Luka took a quick step back. "You're part of the Blades of Marmora??? But... but... you seem so… normal," she exclaimed. "I can't believe you're part of a gang."

Keith immediately pulled over at one of the many parks of the upper ring and turned off the engine.

Keith laughed so hard he nearly fell off the bike. "A gang? Is that what you think of us as? Some street gang. That's too good," he said pulling out his phone. "I have to let Thace here this, he's going to fucking die."

Luka folded her arms and pouted, "Rude!"

Keith lifted himself off of the bike. "I'm not making fun of you.. directly. More of the entire upper ring. I'm sure that's what everyone thinks of us. As some terrible biker gang."

"Well do you all have bikes?"

"Yeah."

"And do you all have matching outfits that you wear around when you ride together letting people know who you are?"

"Yeah."

"Biker gang," Luka teased.

Keith blushed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "well when you put it that way. But we're more than some thuggish gang. We are a humanitarian relief effort. We do community service, fundraisers, we run a protection house for displaced teens whose families disowned them after coming out, we also run security during any of the pride parades."

Luka had look down to prevent Keith from seeing her jaw literally drop from all the great things the blade of Marmora did. Most upper ring residents considered the Blades to be nothing more than street thugs. "Wow. That's incredible. How does someone join?" She asked as she looked back up at Keith.

"Suddenly interested now huh? Well it's not that hard. Just ride a cruiser, any will suffice. And be over eighteen."

"That's it? But we're the same grade, are you eighteen? Did you get held back? Because most juniors I know are seventeen and some are sixteen."

Keith chuckled, "no. I just turned seventeen on the twenty-third."

"So how did you join?"

"Well it helps when your mom is a lifelong member, and you've been around all of them since you were born. They didn't let me join until I was sixteen though."

Luka stood blank faced as she processed all the information she was just given. The cute new kid was a bike enthusiast and repairman, who does charitable work on the side"Okay, I guess that makes sense. Who the hell is this guy. "But wait, October twenty-third? That was yesterday! Well I guess it was technically it was Friday."

Keith shrugged, "Yeah. I don't tell people, birthd-"

"Wait! Does that mean you have one of those sword cog tattoo things?" She said as she checked his body for signs. It was difficult considering he was in pants and wearing a red jacket.

Keith once again couldn't help but chuckle. Playing twenty questions with Luka was surprisingly fun. "Yeah I do.* He said as he took off his jacket and pulled the collar of his shirt down exposing the tattoo that was placed over his right pectoral.

After examining the tattoo and his peck, Luka suddenly felt extremely thirsty, and it wasn't a thirst that could be fixed with water. "Wow, that's hot!" She accidentally said as she immediately brought her hand to cover her mouth.

To her relief, Keith must have not heard her as he slipped his jacket back on. "Sorry for pulling over, it's just I realized that I didn't know where your house is, and you seemed real interested in me and my bike."

Luka blushed realizing much like she never ordered her Lyft, she also forgot to give Keith directions. "Oh yeah. Duh. Well it's off of Melrose and Sycamore. Third house on the right. Although it's a few miles between the houses. I'm so sorry, it's already super late, I mean it's HOLY QUIZNACK, it's 3am," she screamed as she checked her phone to the bevy of texts.

**R: r u ok? A friend said you left with a stranger on a bike.**

**A: Lotor is fine. But where r u?**

**M: wtq! Get the quiznack home dude!**

**M: Romelle just said you rode off with some stranger?!?! >:(**

**M: hello?!?!? Earth to Luka -.-**

**M: dammit bitch answer me!**

"Oh shit! My sister is freaking out. Hold on Keith I have to call her real quick." She said as she removed her helmet and walked a few feet away.

"No problem. We got all night," Keith joked.

…  
...  
"Hey Merla? Listen I'm sorry about-"

"SORRY!" Merla whisper yelled. "You better not have rode off with some stranger on a goddamn bike!"

"It's not how it sounds. It's just a friend offering me a ride. We just stopped to grab a bite to eat so I could sober up. That's all. I'll be home soon."

"To late! I told Mom that you were spending the night with Romelle. So you better figure something out. I will not go down with you. I'm so quiznacking mad at you right now I can't even deal. Bye!" Merla said as she hung up but not before she unleashed a bunch of mistakenly heard curses toward her sister.  
…  
…

"That looked like it went well," Keith teased before seeing Luka's shamed look sweep over her face. "I'm sorry. I'm not good at being a helpful human being. Well half-galran being."

Keith's half-galran remark seemed to pull Luka out of her self loathing. "Half galran?But you look so… human," she teased.

"I know. The only thing I got from my mom looks wise is this." Keith said pointing to his mark.

"So it's not a scar."

"Nope. Just a reminder of who I am." Keith said proudly. "So I heard the mention of food? If your down, I know a place, it's got a great 3:00 am breakfast special."

"Well I got no place better to be. I can't even go home anymore tonight or I'll get me and my sister in trouble."

Keith smirked as he got back on his bike and offered her the helmet again. "I can help with that too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Inserts "Surprise Motherfucker* gif
> 
> Runereader: bet you didn't think that was going to fo the way you thought. Muahahahaha. But seriously thanks for consistently ready and commenting. You the best.


	12. Sincline's

Luka looked up to the diner's bright blue and orange neon sign reading Sincline's Diner. "Are you sure about this place Keith it looks a bit sketchy."

Keith chuckled, "yeah, it's about as sketchy as the blades are."

"Well I'm trusting you. Don't let me down," she teased.

Keith shot her a playful smirk, "wouldn't dream of it." Luka was in it now. Maybe the alcohol had given her the courage to let Keith take her somewhere in the middle of the night in the lower ring, maybe the alcohol made his lips look tastier than they were, but she had to know. By the end of the night she had to know.

"So how do you know this place?" She asked as they made their way to the entrance.

"Please, Sincline's is a Naxzela establishment."

"Naxzela? What the quiznack is that?"

Keith opened the door for her allowing her to enter first. "It's the district we're in. Lower Daibazaltea is split into like four districts, which-"

"Keith!" The waitress shouted interrupting their conversation. The girl ran over and gave Keith a friendly hug, much to Luka's disdain.

"Hey Acxa. What are you doing here? I thought you were off tonight?"

The galran woman shook her head. "Nah, Narti called out. Apparently her cat got sick."

"Is Kova ok?" Keith asked rather concerned.

"You know that damn cat is always up to something. Probably ate the wrong bug." Acxa giggled and Keith followed. "Oh I'm sorry where are my manners. I'm Acxa," she said as she shifted her focus to Luka reaching out a hand.

"Luka," she responded hesitantly bringing her hand to shake hers.

"So the usual booth then?"

"You know me so well."

Acxa giggled again. "I would hope so," she said as she ushered them to a corner booth. "Coffee?"

Keith nodded, "of course it's only 3:15, the night is still young."

Luka looked from Keith to Acxa, "decaf please."

Acxa nodded and left. Luka grabbed the menu and buried her face in it. If something would have ruined her buzz, it was a pretty girl that Keith was very friendly with.

"So how do you know Acxa?" She asked without looking up from the menu.

"Pshhh. We go way back. Before my dad died and my mother and I moved, we were neighbors. She was a year older than me but we became instant friends. We both felt like outsiders and that's what brought us together. So for the last thirteen or so years we've been as close as friends could be."

Acxa returned with the coffee. "Do you need anymore time?" To which Keith nodded and Acxa left to resume her other work, for there were no other customers to attend to.

Luka dropped the menu. "That's good that you had someone for you after a tragedy such as that. I understand. But, you two are very close though," she said playfully.

"Yeah, closer than most friends. She was my first."

"First!?!" Luka said a little to loud as she did a near spit take while sipping her coffee.

"Not like that. She was my first kiss. And I was hers. Then she immediately came out to me. She just had to try with guy she liked most. That was when we were twelve. Well when I was. But shortly afterwards, my mom saw her at one of the Blade Teen Shelters. She came out to her parents and they kicked her out. My mom practically snatched her out of her cot and forced her to stay with us. So she lived with us up until last year when she moved out to a small one bedroom apartment a few blocks from here. So for the last four years she's basically been my sister. She's also a blade member so I still get to see her a ton."

Luka found herself relaxing. She felt terrible that she was so happy that someone got disowned by her family for being gay, and wasn't a threat to her possible relationship with Keith. "Wow, I'm terrible." She muttered under her breath.

"So have you decided?"

"On?"

Keith smirked and shook his head, "on what to eat dummy."

"Oh quiznack, sorry no. My mind just wandered."

"I bet," Keith said with his smug smirk still on his face.

"So what's good here? I assume you know the menu inside and out since you haven't even picked up the menu."

Keith chuckled as he sipped on his coffee. "Good eye. Yeah like I said this place is an establishment. Plus I'm here at least three to four times a week to check on Acxa. And well anything breakfast, that's where this diner excels."

"So the cinnamon bun french toast would be a pretty good pick."

Keith's eyes slightly widened. "You might want to steer clear. That thing is huge, I've never been able to finish it in one sitting. But it is to die for."

Luka smirked. If there was one thing she truly had a gift for, it was consuming large amounts of food with ease. Although Merla would tell her it wasn't lady like, but she didn't care, and she had a feeling Keith wouldn't either. "Challenge accepted."

"What? No.. it wasn't a challenge."

"It's too late, I've already accepted, can't back out now."

A minute later Acxa returned. "Alrighty. Anything catch your eye Luka?"

She smiled as her and Keith made eye contact. He looked at her with concern as he mouthed "don't". "Yes, I'll get the cinnamon bun french toast."

"Oh, so you'll be sharing then," Acxa stated as she wrote the order down.

"Nope, it's just for me."

Acxa stopped writing and looked to Luka. "You sure. That thing is a quiznacking lot. Keith and I literally have to split it."

"Yes I'm sure. I love a challenge."

Acxa looked to Keith with a confused look. Keith responded by shaking his head and shrugging. "So Keith, your usual?"

"Yeah. Sourdough toast this time though."

Luka didn't gear the rest of his order due to her phone buzzing.

**R: hey. I kno Merla was prob mean but u can stay here if u need to. Luv u**

Luka smiled. She loved that Romelle was the mother hen of her friends, always willing to help or take care of them.

**Thanks. But I have a place 2 crash… ily2**

**R: ok just b safe babe :p**

"Everything ok?" She heard Keith ask.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just Romelle making sure I'm ok. She's basically the group mom."

Keith nodded, "hmm I don't think I've met Romelle. Is she the white haired? Or the blonde?"

Luka giggled, "the blonde. Allura is the white haired girl. Aka Lotor's girlfriend."

Luka could see the scowl grow on Keith's face at the mention of Lotor. "So, I've told you about me. Tell me about yourself." Keith said, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh not much to me. Just a normal upper ring Daibazaltea girl. My parents passed when I was young and my uncle Coran took in me and my sister."

"The headmaster. He seems like a genuinely nice guy. You can see the family resemblance too," Keith said pointing out her orange hair. "So what do you do for fun?"

"Well I love motorcycles. It's been an obsession of mine since I was young. The feeling of being free you know. I wanted to join Voltron but Merla basically forbid me from doing it."

Keith smiled and nodded as he played along. Luka was definitely the Black Siren, he knew she would deny it if he called her out on it, so he just accepted her lie. It's not like he was any different, parading around as a normal teen while secretly being the Red Paladin. "Sounds like a smart sister. I've heard Voltron can be very dangerous."

"You've never been before?"

"Nah. From what I'm told, the race ends the same every time. The Red Paladin always wins," he teased.

"Not always, Black Siren came along and was doing just as good, if not better. Until something bad happened," She said in defense.

 _"Yeah, bad like crashing your bike and damaging it."_ Keith thought. "Yeah I heard they came along and was incredible, until the Red Paladin beat them."

"I think that Black Siren will beat the Red Paladin, then everyone will be amazed at how skilled of a rider they are."

Keith was admiring Luka's persistent praise of herself, not that he didn't occasionally come to his alter ego's defense on the Voltron boards. He was enjoying their back and forth over who the better rider was, part of him wanted to just come out with the truth, but he couldn't. No one knew his secret, not even his own mother or his best friend. He couldn't tell a near stranger.

"Alrighty here we are," Acxa said as she placed their orders in front of them. "One breakfast platter for Keith. And the cinnamon bun french toast for Luka, good luck." She said as she winked at Luka.

Luka froze. Was Acxa flirting with her?

Keith's laughter interrupted her inner thoughts. "What?" She asked.

"Your face when Acxa winked at you. Priceless, so worth the five bucks I offered her."

"You told her to flirt with me?!?"

"Well yeah. It's a game we've been doing since we were young. It's basically truth or dare without the dare. Like who could embarrass the other more. I thought she would be too embarrassed to flirt with some new girl. I thought wrong."

"Serves you right," Luka teased. "Holy quiznack this thing is huge," she said turning her attention to her food.

"I warned you."

"And I warned you that I am more than you think."

"I know," Keith whispered under his breath.

The two ate in a blissful silence enjoying their food. Acxa sat and joined them after Keith had finished. She was on her break and wanted to apologize to Luka and plot Keith's demise in the process.

To Keith and Acxa's amazement, Luka had made good of her challenge and finished the entire order.

"I… I don't know what to say. In the year I've worked here. And the ten plus years we've come her, I've never seen someone finish that. Let alone someone so…"

"Amazing!" Luka boastfully interrupted.

"I was going to say tiny," Acxa teased.

"Excuse me ladies. I need to hit the bathroom and make a quick call," Keith said as he playfully pushed Acxa off the edge of the booth. "Be back soon."

After Keith had gone, Acxa and Luka sat in an awkward silence. "So… how do you know Keith?" Acxa asked, finally breaking the silence between them.

"Well believe it or not, he yelled at me to leave him alone when I tried to introduce myself."

Acxa giggled, "Not hard to believe at all. That's how I met Keith. Someone was making fun of him for being a hybrid and I stepped in and kicked that kid's ass. I told him us half-galrans have to stick together, I'm Acxa. And he said I don't care, leave me alone."

"You're half-glaran too?"

"Yeah. Usually you'd be able to see them," she said as she moved some hair to reveal horns. "But I had a bad hair day so I just said quiznack it."

"It looks good." Luka said genuinely. "But Keith and I aren't anywhere close to what you and him are."

"Oh I know that. We're practically family. I love Keith and he loves me. But I'm surprised. He's been at that new school for like two days and already brought a lady friend to one of his spots. Has he taken you to Vrepit Sal's?"

"No. Not yet. Why?"

"That's like his favorite place. It's just a deli, but him and his dad went twice a week when he was young. He still goes twice a week. I used to go with him, but ever since I moved out, we haven't seen each other that much."

"I'll remember that."

"When I first met you, I didn't like you. You're upper ring, which means you think you're better than us.." Luka wanted to disagree, but she couldn't deny that up until meeting Keith she did think she was better than lower ring citizens. ".. but seeing the way Keith treats you and the fact that you're here in general makes me believe that you're different."

Luka felt like an incredible weight had been lifted off her chest. "Thank you. But you're right. I did feel like I was. But after meeting Keith and experiencing his world, I've realized that this life is real. Mine is a fantasy."

"You must really like Keith if he changed your whole image of life here."

"Keith's different. He's shy, and a little bit of the brooding type, but he's also sweet, and kind, and-"

"Hot. The next word you're looking for is hot."

"Well… I mean yeah. But don't you like girls?"

"And? I can appreciate beauty."

"Sorry. That was pretty judgemental of me."

"Don't worry about it. I was giving you a rough time. Just how we do things here. But I say that because for the past two years, I've had to put up with girls coming up to me to see if I could hook them up with my "hot" friend."

"Oh I see," Luka said surprisingly jealous.

Acxa smirked. "Don't worry, I never gave any of them my blessing," she said looking down at her phone. "Quiznack. I gotta clock back in. Well it was surprisingly a pleasure to meet you. I hope to see you again soon. Probably very soon." She said standing up and slowly walking away. "And who knows maybe I'll give you my blessing some day."

"Blessing?" Keith said as he sat back down replacing Acxa.

"Nothing. Girl stuff." Luka lied.

"Cool. So the check is taken care of. Whenever you're ready we can go."

Luka yawned, "I should've paid. It's the least I can do after you offered me a ride home."

"Please I didn't pay. Perks of being a fav customer," he said with a sly wink. "So shall we?"

Luka yawned again. "Quiznack am I tired. Yeah we can go then. But where are we going?"

Keith smirked as he stood. "home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to bring in my fav VLD babe. Debated on making her Keith's gf but felt it would change the tone I'm going for which is fluff>angst. But there is a little bit of angst but not really.


	13. Near Dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. I mean it's a little hard for them to have a ton of interaction when they just want to sleep.
> 
> Also if you on Tumblr check out linipik   
> Their Keith and Krolia modern biker gang au drawing is amazing, it's basically what I envisioned. But Krolia is still galran in this story.

After saying goodbye to Acxa and getting her number, Luka followed Keith back to his bike.

"So back to your place huh? Are you trying to seduce me?" Luka teased. A part of her knew she was pushing her luck, she couldn't use the whole "sorry I was drunk excuse" for much longer, she was definitely on the more sober side of things. The other part of her, well the other part wouldn't mind being seduced by him.

Keith froze, "What? No I would never.. why would you," he babbled. "You've been drinking, and I hardly know you. I would never take advantage of someone like that."

Keith was a stand up gentleman, which only made Luka more intrigued by him. "Relax, I'm only teasing." She said playfully. "You're a good person, who's just helping a new friend out."

"Exactly. Consider yourself lucky, because it's a good thing that I'm a _really_ good person."

"More like it's a good thing I'm cute and you couldn't resist helping a cute girl out." She said as they straddled his bike.

Keith muttered something under his breath as he started the engine. "You ready?" He eventually asked.

"Tired and ready for bed. So yes, I'm ready."

Exhausted from the back to back late nights, Luka started to doze off while Keith drove them back to his place. Which was surprising considering that the trip back to Keith's place was under five minutes. Keith quietly rolled the bike into neutral as he shut off the engine waking Luka.

"Huh? What? Here already?"

"Sort of. I didn't want to wake anyone considering it's nearly 4am. We're just going to roll into the garage."

Luka blinked a few times to try to get her whereabouts. "Is this your work?" She asked noticing the unlit "Kogane Auto Repair" sign.

"Yeah, our place is located above the shop," he pointed out.

"Cool." She shyly said, but she meant it. Keith's life was interesting, and unique and completely different than her own. She just couldn't stop comparing her life to his. All the rumours that she had heard of the lower ring, it's resident's, and the Blades, have so far been proven false.

After pulling into the garage, Keith parked next to a covered bike.

"That you're mom's bike?" Luka asked as she started to pull up the cover catching a glimpse of red.

Keith hastily grabbed her hand and pulled her away. "Uhh yeah but she's working on it and doesn't want the cover removed."

"Oh ok," Luka replied nonchalantly. "So now where?"

Keith chuckled softly. "Now up the fire escape."

"The fire escape!?" Luka blurted and immediately covering her mouth. "Why the quiznack are we not going through the door?"

"Cus I don't need to wake my mom. Plus I don't need her catching me sneaking in a girl super late at night… again."

Luka wanted to object and also tease him but Keith put his finger up to mouth. "just follow me. Or do you not want to get some sleep?"

"Sleep. Sleep sounds good," she said as she followed Keith to the fire escape and up. "So you come home this late often?"

"Sometimes. But usually I stay in because I'm so tired after working on bikes all day," her remarked as he quietly lifted open the large window. "Watch your step," he said while helping Luka inside.

Luka entered and whole his room was dark, she could still see how small it was. There was a twin bed, the couch she stepped on getting in that could easily pass as a futon, and a dress or with a 36" TV. "This is… quaint."

"You mean small." Keith said as he maneuvered his way in.

"Maybe. But it's perfect, like seriously it's real- what the quiznack is that giant black ball?!?"

Keith chuckled under his breath. "That's just Kosmo. He's my dog. He's harmless. But he likes to sleep in my room. Don't worry he usually sleeps on the couch which is where I'll be staying."

"No please, I'll take the couch," Luka insisted. "I shouldn't sleep in _your_ bed."

It was to late, Keith was already stretched out on the couch. "To late. But there's room if you insist on being on the uncomfortable couch. I usually put on some white background noise, but I can just use my headphones."

Luka sat down beside him. "Actually I like to veg and watch some Netflix before bed, it's like a nightly tradition. You have Netflix right? If not I could use my account."

Keith pretended to be offended, "how dare you. Of course I have Netflix, I'm not that uncivilized."

"You an office fan? That's my go to. I've seen every episode like at least ten times," she bragged.

"Never seen it. I-"

"You've never seen the office? What the quiznack!" She quietly yelled as she fave Keith a light punch on the shoulder. "Well we can't watch it now, cus you have to watch it not half asleep. Well at least after you've seen it as much as me."

"Well sorry, I'll get my act together and watch it. I usually have sportscenter running in the background."

"Typical."

"Wow stereotype much," he teased. "It's easy to fall asleep to. You see one highlight you've seen them all. "But since now I can't use the office how about… ahh here we go. How about That 70's show?"

"That'll work."

Keith nodded and pressed play. Before long both of them started to slowly lean on each other as the fell asleep. "Hmmm this is nice," Luka softly whispered to herself. It was amazing how perfect resting on Keith's arm and shoulder felt. She nestled further onto his chest as he started to lightly snore.

If she couldn't get that kiss she desperately wanted from Keith, falling asleep cuddled up next to him was a close second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I listen to a shit ton of music while I write this story, and I'm starting to create a playlist so when it's done you could listen to the music that I believe they would listen to in this story and just music that inspired the work. 
> 
> This chapter was inspired by Intro - Rhodes 
> 
> Idk maybe this is dumb.


	14. Good Morning, Good Bye

The loud buzzing of an alarm rapidly wakes Luka, who found herself walking in a bed. The sun had slightly began to rise, barely piercing through the blinds in Keith's room. 

Keith's room, she was spent the night at Keith's, and she was in.. holy quiznack she was in his bed. But where was he? She surveyed the room and found him on his couch covered up by what could only be described as a walking rug. A rug that Keith had called Kosmo. 

"sorry to wake you. I forgot that my alarm is set to 6:00 every morning," Keith said muffled from under the dog. "Castle, shut off alarm." 

"Shutting off alarm." The robotic voice said. 

"Now get some rest. We can sleep in at least for another three hours before it gets noisy." 

That's all Luka needed to hear as her head hit the pillow and she found herself asleep within minutes. 

It feels like only a few minutes pass by when she's awoken to the sound of drills and banging wake her. 

"Ugh… it's so quiznacking loud." She sleepily stated. "Five more minutes, alright Keith… Keith?" 

She rubbed her eyes as she slowly sat up. She fully observed the entirety of Keith's room. He had a few posters of bands she didn't recognize, a large banner hanging from the door. He had a bean bag chair placed beside the futon. The futon that Keith was no longer lying in. 

"Keith" she whispered, as she got up off the bed. "Keith where the quiznack are you?" 

She was about to open the door she presumed lead to the rest of the apartment when it was opened for her, causing her to jump back startled. 

Standing there with only a towel wrapped around his waist was a soaking wet, slightly steaming Keith. 

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you were asleep and figured I could squeak in a quick shower before I had to wake you up," Keith said as he slipped past Luka. 

Holy quiznack, was all she could think of at the moment as she examined every inch of Keith's body. "Well uhh... that's ok, I uhh… just woke up." 

Keith smiled at her, "It's all good. Now i just need you to turn around and promise not to peek mkay?" 

Luka's eyes darted up and down Keith's body one last before she nodded and turned around. "Looks like you can't sleep in that much can you?" 

"Not when you live above an auto repair shop," Keith joked, "but I'm usually up by now. I like to keep a similar schedule when it comes to my morning alarms. 5:30 on weekdays and 6:00 on weekends and holidays." 

Luka couldn't imagine waking up so early on weekends, she needed and loved her sleep. "I can't imagine being up that early on weekends. I like to sleep in." 

She could hear clothes ruffling behind her, she was tempted to sneak a peek. "When do you like to wake up on weekends?" Keith asked. 

"Well you know it varies. Could be 9am could be some time past noon." 

She heard Keith scoff, "quiznack that must be nice." 

"Sometimes, but sometimes I wake up feeling more tired than I should be. So who are Day Wave?" 

"Who are what?" 

"Day Wave. I've been staring at this poster for like ever. Can I turn around?" 

Keith chuckled, "yes you can turn around," to which Luka did, Keith was wearing black pants, with a matching black shirt, with a black and purple jacket. "And it's "who is Day Wave?" because it's not a band, it's one dude. And he's brilliant."

"Well you'll have to send me some song recommendations from him then," Luka suggested. 

"I'm sorry where are my manners. Good morning." 

Luka giggled, "good morning." 

"So did you umm want to shower or anything. I have plenty of extra women's clothes that you could change into. Their Acxa's so she wouldn't mind." 

While intrigued by the fact that Keith just offered her a shower, unfortunately without him, she knew she had to get going before her parents started grilling Merla or worse, called Romelle's parents. "That's very sweet but it's 8:30 and I don't need my parents to worry about me." 

Keith nodded, and beckoned her out the door. "So do you want anything to eat before we leave?" 

"Actually no, still pretty full from last nights epic meal. And we?" 

"Hmm not surprised," Keith said as he poured himself a glass of juice. "Thirsty?" He asked offering her the cup. 

"Yeah, parched actually," she said accepting the drink. "Is this… what is this?" She asked after smelling the drink. 

"Pedialyte. It's supposed to be nutritious for babies and stuff for babies, but it also helps with hangovers. Trust me," he said before gulping down half of his glass. 

Luka shrugged and drank the entire glass in one long continuous gulp. "Yummy. So what did you mean we?" 

"I'm giving you a ride home like I was supposed to do last night." 

Luka gave him a small smile as she quickly rinsed her glass placed it in the sink. "Actually I ordered a Lyft when I was checking my phone." 

"Ohh." 

"It's not you. Well it is you. But it's not what you think."

"It's that it would look bad on you if someone like me was dropping you off the next day after you said you were spending the night at your friends." 

Luka's smile faded along with Keith's, "so maybe you do get it. But I promise that I don't mind being seen around in public with you. You're not some lepur. And if you are, then I'll contract it too. You're kind, and a total stand up guy." 

"Thanks, I appreciate it." A small smile crept back onto Keith's face as he walked towards the door. 

Luka was going to say something but she felt her phone vibrate, her Lyft was calling, they were here. "Quiznack it's my Lyft driver, looks like they're here."

"Then I'll walk you out," Keith said opening the door allowing her to exit first. The lower ring looked so different on a Sunday morning, birds were chirping, there was a park across the street filled with families attending their children's soccer games. Everything seemed so perfectly in place and relaxing. Back home, the streets were filled with fancy cars, and the typical group of morning joggers and cyclists, whom always seemed to be judging you.

Not here though, everyone was simply minding their own business. 

"Looks like their right there," she pointed out to the Prius. She turned to Keith and pulled him in for a hug. "Thanks for everything you did to help last night. It was honestly one of the best nights I've had," she whispered.

"Likewise," Keith whispered.

Luka stepped away and turned and walked towards her Lyft when she Keith shout, "Wait!" 

Luka stopped dead in her tracks. Was this it? Did he feel the same butterflies in his stomach that she felt when they hugged? 

"Yes?" She asked overjoyed.

"You never gave me your number. I kind of need it if I'm going to fix your bike and send you those songs." 

"Oh." Disappointment settled into her voice. "Oh yeah," she continued, "I totally forget that's why we met the first time. Here," she said offering him her phone. Keith typed away. 

"There we go. I'm under "Fav Half-breed" cus I'm not sure Lotor or your sis would like you having my name in your contacts. 

Luka playfully rolled her eyes, "I told you that I don't care about being seen with you. I like you and that's what matters. When I get home I'm changing it to Keith with a smiley emoji." 

"Sounds good to me. So uhh yeah, text me when you are home safe. It would make me feel better knowing you're okay. I'll be at a Blade of Marmora event for most of the day so if I don't respond right away, just know that's why." 

"Sounds good. I'll see you around half-breed," she teased and gave him a light punch. 

She nearly ran to her Lyft for fear of them driving away. 

She took her place in the back seat and buckled her seatbelt. "Hey, sorry about that. We just needed to exchange numbers." 

"Don't worry about it sweetie. Glad to see he was a gentleman that didn't leave you to do the walk of shame." 

"No it's not like that. He was just taking care of me when I drank to much last night." 

"That's so sweet. It's rare that you have a friend that's willing to do that for you. You two must be very close."

"Yeah," Luka said turning her head to look out the window as the lower ring flashed by. "Hopefully," she whispered to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love doing this fic. It's so nice just creating fluff, there's no real angst. Unless you count that Luka is clearly into Keith but doesn't know how he feels......... Yet ;)
> 
>  
> 
> Inspired by Something Here, Gone, and On Your Side by Day Wave.


	15. Blades For Kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for taking soooooooo long. I'm usually pretty good at posting every 2-3 days, but life. 
> 
> Finals, and then getting different hours at work which keep my exhausted and constantly busy. 
> 
> But still sorry for the delay. I hope I can get back on that 2-3 day upload.

Acxa and Keith were carefully hanging up a banner at one of the local rec centers, preparing for their monthly children's charity. 

"I still don't think the name works. It totally sounds like we're giving children weapons," Keith questioned as he put the final nail in. He was referring to the banner that said "Blades For Kids".

"Yeah well you know Kolivan better than most of us, so you know once he's set on idea he's sticking with it," Acxa answered as she steadied herself on the ladder before nailing in the final nail to hold the banner up. 

Acxa and Keith successfully hung up three more banners before taking a seat at one of the sign up tables. 

"Still… blades for kids. I don't know."

Acxa chucked, "just let it go. It's going to be a long day and who knows how many people are actually going to come. We could be here for hours." 

Today's Blade of Marmora charity event was an anti-gun violence event. For every gun, blade, knife, or other weapon turned in, there would be one less weapon on the street and the money from charity would all be donated to help properly train school security. Broken, old, new, used, all weapons counted. Hence "Blades For Kids". 

"Yeah you're right, like always," Keith said glancing at his phone. It had been almost two hours and he still hadn't heard from Luka. 

Acxa peered over, "still no text from your girlfriend I see." 

Keith quickly tucked his phone back into his pocket, "that's not what I was doing," he lied. "I was checking the time." 

"Mhmm sure," Acxa teased. She knew Keith all to well that she knew he was waiting for a text.

"And Luka isn't my girlfriend."

"Funny, I don't remember saying her name," she teased much to Keith's chagrin.

The two were engaged in their typical sibling spat when Krolia and Kolivan appeared. 

Krolia smiled, "just like old times." 

"Mom!" Both said in unison. 

Acxa had always called Krolia by her name or ma'am. But once Krolia had taken her into their home and treated her as her own daughter, Acxa had grown to love Krolia as a mother figure. Krolia would even ground her when she would get caught sneaking out, just like her owm mother would. However, she never referred to Krolia as mom, even alone with Keith she would say "your mom". But one day when she was out with the two of them celebrating her sixteenth birthday, she ran into her actual mother. 

Things escalated quickly between Krolia and her own mother until Acxa stepped in and denounced her mother, claiming Krolia as her real mom. From that day forward she never called Krolia anything but mom.

"Sorry mom, just got distracted," Acxa claimed. 

"It happens, besides we haven't opened yet. Kolivan and I just wanted to make sure you two are ready. Things could get out of hand. People might take this as some politically charged event, and might try to start some fight. We just want you to know that the two of you are to stay out of it. No matter what. Don't engage with those people," Krolia kindly demanded from her two kids. 

"It's unlikely that those people will even get in with our heightened security, but you never know. If you see anything please report it," Kolivan said as he handed them a singular walkie-talkie. "Use this. I'm on channel one, Krolia on two, and security on three. Let's have a nice event today. I'll see you around," he finished and slowly walked away to check up on everyone else. 

"I this really that big of a deal mom?" Keith asked turning his attention back towards her and Acxa. "I mean people aren't going to start to riot or some quiznacking shit… right?" 

Krolia lightly smacked Keith on the back of the head, "you know I don't like that kind of language. And no, but people do strange things when they believe that what's happening is a threat to their way of life. Just be positive and friendly. The people here turning in their weapons want to help and better the community." 

Keith and Acxa nodded as Krolia dismissed herself. 

"So do you want to date Luka?" Acxa asked. 

"Well you just blew past those ominous warnings huh? And why do you think that?" Keith asked hopefully just letting Acxa think herself into a dead end so he didn't need to answer these types of questions. 

"I don't. I'm just surprised that you would be seen hanging out with some upper ring girl from school. You're not one to make friend easily," she playfully teased as the doors opened and several people entered. "Shit, we'll continue this conversation when we get a break from the greetings and paperwork."

"Deal," Keith answered, glancing down to his phone one last time. There was still no new message. 

Hours went by as Keith constantly checked his phone, still no text. "Dammit, what did I do now?" He quietly asked himself

"Probably scared her off with your loner mentality," Acxa jokingly answered. She pointed to her galran ears before Keith could ask how he even heard her. 

"Yeah whatever. Maybe she thinks that you're overbearing, I mean you practically forced her to give you her number," Keith responded, with a slight glare. 

"Oh yeah, I have her number. Many I should text your girlfriend for you," Acxa said pulling out her phone. 

Keith went to reach for the phone as Acxa put her hand out, keeping it just out of Keith's reach. 

"Keith you have a girlfriend!?" His mother's voice shouted from behind them causing both teens to freeze up. 

Keith reluctantly turned around, "what? No, Acxa is just teasing me about a girl I was hanging out with last night. I took her to Sincline's," he answered shooting another side glare at Acxa. 

"Acxa??"

"Huh? Oh, well yeah I'm definitely teasing him. But there's definitely a girl." 

Keith pushed her as she fell off of her chair. "There's no "girl" she is just someone from school who also happens to need her bike fixed. She's just-" 

"That's not how I would put it. She's into you," Acxa interrupted as she pulled herself off the ground and back into her chair. "She definitely wouldn't mind kissing you. Here eyes were practically begging you to kiss her."

"What!? When was this? Not last night?" 

"Well when you disappeared for like ten minutes, while I was on break. We had a nice little chat.

"Looks like I'm not needed for this right now. Just hurry up and finish your break, I'm expecting another rush soon," Krolia stated before taking off and leaving the two teens to discuss their lives. 

Both teens watched Krolia walk away. "Listen, we didn't have some crazy heart to heart. But ten minutes was all it took for me to realize she's into you. And you're probably into her otherwise you wouldn't have brought her to Sincline's in the middle of the quiznacking night." 

Keith stopped and contemplated what she said. Yes he did find the altean to be a surprising delight. And he did enjoy keeping her company, but her hardly knew her. 

"I don't know. I mean we just met. It's too early to say that I would be into her," Keith acknowledged. He shifted his attention back to his phone. Still no text. Was she ok? Did he give her the wrong number? Or did she just not care to text him back?

Acxa smirked, "Well then why do you keep checking your phone hoping she texts you?" 

"I'm just.. I asked her to let me know when she got home safely, that's all!" Keith proclaimed.

Acxa's smirk grew, oh Keith, you have no idea, she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith has no clue he's kind of into her. I think it's sweet when people go "let me know when your home safe" it's a sign that they really care. Keith just doesn't know it yet. 
> 
>  
> 
> Blades for Kids > Toys for Tots 
> 
> Also I hope the whole turning your weapons in to help school safety doesn't come off as too political. I just thought that BoM are all about protecting those who can't.


	16. k thanks

**K: K thanks…**

 

Two words that meant far more than what they were supposed to. "K thanks" the "leave me alone" of texts.

Luka knew she messed up. She had already been berated by Merula, and then Coran decided to pile on, but to have Keith mad at her, well it sucked.

She had been so stressed, so annoyed, so mad at herself and her sister that she completely forgot. She forgot about her promise to text Keith when she returned home. It was a simple as request, just text him letting her know she was safe at home.

But she didn't. She didn't text him until later Sunday night. He didn't respond right away. As a matter of fact he didn't respond for an hour, not until right when she was preparing for bed.

Why did it have to be those words? She knew what they meant. Everyone knew what those meant. And now she couldn't sleep. But she would see him tomorrow sometime during school. She would have a chance to explain, that she didn't mean to ignore him.

But Monday came and went and she only saw Keith once, during passing period. She was cornered by Romelle and Allura who just had to get the details about her "romantic night with a mysterious stranger".

She wasn't going to get a chance to talk to him today, so she might as well indulge her friends. She gave them all the "juicy" details of her night with Keith, or as she named him "her mystery man". The two ate it up, they couldn't believe that Luka, who had never really shown much interest in boys, literally lived some "sexy fairytale" as Romelle put it.

Allura was jealous as well. She wished Lotor did something like that with her. All they did was talk about Lotor's future and his acceptance to Altean University, and how together they would run the campus like they did here. Luka knew what she meant. Lotor has this alluring affect on women, but he was selfish. Lotor thought nothing but how others would perceive him and his relationships…. At least now anyways. Before his Junior year, he was different. He was kind, poetic... dreamy, yes Luka did have a crush on him growing up, he was like a God to her. But things change, Lotor changed.

She felt sad for Allura, she didn't know her all that well, but growing up with Lotor and Merla, she knew that joining their little "click" was not easy. You basically had to burn all your bridges and leave behind your friends. Lotor and Merla were your life now. She was lucky that she knew them before they both "grew up" as Merla had put it. Seeing Allura there reminded her of the conversation she had Saturday night with her former friend. Pi.. Pidge, that was it, the girl who made kick-ass drinks. If Allura was lucky, she could mend that bridge, they seemed like nice people. Her, McClain, Shiro, and Hunk, they seemed to be a real family. Something that she once considered her, Merla, and Lotor to be.

Thankfully Romelle was a perfect addition. She made them feel more like a family, she was the "weird aunt". She's the one that stuck around the trio. She's the one that also had her own life, she was free spirited. And if Luka was being honest, she was her best friend.

Her thoughts had drifted from her friends personal situations back to her own. Quiznack why did she not text Keith back sooner. She didn't want to text him again, it would seem insincere. And she didn't have the courage to call him directly. No, she needed a "chance encounter". So after school ended, she sat in her car and pulled out her phone to look up the number to "Kogane Auto Repair".

"Thank you for calling Kogane Auto Repair, this is Krolia how may I assist you," the woman said. It was Keith's mother, the beautiful galran woman whom while gentle also was incredibly intimidating during her initial interaction.

"Hi there. I need to get my bike repaired," she paused to collect her thoughts. "And I heard your bike specialist is out of this world, on par with the specialists in Olkarion," Luka added.

Krolia chuckled, "oh I think whoever you heard from gave him a little too much credit. But rest assured he is the best in the city. Upper and lower. I would be more than willing to set up an appointment for you to meet and discuss potential business."

"That would be great. When would your next available appointment be?"

"One moment," Krolia stated. Luka would hear some rustling of papers. "He has a tight schedule this, but he could actually do it tonight. Say 8'00?"

Quiznack. 8:00? That was to soon. She needed time to figure out what she was going to say to him. How she was going to figure out an apology by then? "Uhhh, yeah 8:00 works perfectly. I will see you then," Luka sighed. Why did she agree?

She went to hang up but heard Krolia call out. "One last thing dear. I need a name."

Double Quiznack. If she gave her own name, Keith would certainly see and then he would probably cancel. She had to think fast. "Uhhllura. My name is Allura."

"Well Allura, we look forward to seeing you later this evening. Have a great rest of your day."

She sighed and slinked down in her seat. The black leather was no longer sticking to her back. She had totally forgotten to slightly crack her windows. While well into fall, Daibazaltea could get pretty hot.

"8:00" she repeated.

-

When the time came, Luka found herself sitting in the car watching the scene in front of her. Keith was helping his mom with a car, and under the neon light his skin seemed to glisten due to his sweat. Somehow him being covered in sweat was just as attractive.

"Quiznack, the new kid is super hot," Romelle said breaking the silence. Luka didn't want to go alone, and she made up a reason why she needed Romelle to come. Romelle was trustworthy, and while she loved gossip, if Luka asked, she would keep Keith's secret from Lotor and the rest of the school. She also wasn't uncommon with traveling to the lower ring. Romelle often did volunteer work with local homeless shelters in the lower ring. A few years ago when her brother Bandor ran away, she searched everywhere in the upper ring. She didn't even consider looking in the lower ring until one afternoon she was doing mandatory community service at a lower ring homeless shelter where she found her brother. She's volunteered at the lower ring homeless shelters ever since.

But she did lie as to why they were there. She had told Romelle that she wanted to make right with him after what Lotor did last week. Romelle believed her, because in part it was true, she was apologizing.

"Okay… here goes nothing," Luka nervously said.

She exited Romelle's slick black Mercedes Benz, the air was crisp with a slight chill. The day might have been hot, but this was a typical fall evening. She found herself being awestruck at the subtle calm of the lower ring. The way buildings are crammed together, the way the streetlights light the roads, the loud noises in the distance. Perfection.

She stoically walked up to the mother and son duo.

"Hey it's me Luka, surprised? No that won't work," she told herself. "Luka? What are you doing here?" She mimicked Keith's voice. "I'm your 8 o'clock. I'm Allura… ugh no."

"Luka?" Keith's actual voice asked.

Well quiznack.

"He.. hey Keith," Luka stated in a sheepish voice. She offered a small, friendly grin. Keith was in his grease stained workers jumpsuit. The blue, black, and purple really suited him. How could she not notice that this was a Blade of Marmora run shop.

"What are… what are you doing here?" He calmly asked. Her cheeks started to bluff and she forced herself to look away. Now or never.

"Yeah, I uhh, I kind of lied. I'm your 8:00 appointment."

"No. Keith had an appointment with an Allura," Krolia corrected. She was wearing a similar jumpsuit but had the sleeves cut off, fully showing her BoM tattoo. It reminded her that Keith also had one somewhere on his body. And she wished she was less drunk that night so she could remember exactly where on his body.

"Yeah that's me. I used a fake name. I wasn't sure if you wanted to talk to me after what you said last night," she said hesitantly while playing with her hair which she had kept down today.

"Why would.." Krolia paused and turned to Keith. "What did you say to the poor girl?" She asked.

Keith wiped the sweat from his brow, he didn't understand why she was accusing him of doing something wrong. "What!?! I didn't do anything. She texted me saying she was safe and I said thanks."

"You said "k thanks"," Luka corrected much to Keith's chagrin.

His mother let out an audible gasp. "Keith you "k thanks'd" this young girl," she lightly smacked the back of his head which made Luka giggle.

"So? What's the big deal?" Keith asked rubbing the back of his head. He was genuinely unaware of what he had done.

"Son have I taught you nothing. K thanks over text is basically telling someone to quiznack off. And you told this beautiful young girl to do that late last night. No wonder she set up a fake appointment," Krolia pointed out. She was no longer shocked or frustrated, just annoyed at her idiot son.

"Well sorry. I don't pay attention to these things. You know I prefer one on one interaction," Keith responded. His cheeks were getting redder by the minute.

Luka watched as Krolia shot him a deathly glare. There was the intimidating feeling Luka felt earlier. She had forgotten all about it when she watched the women playfully tease her handsome son.

Keith turned to Luka, "I'm sorry Luka I didn't know that I was a jerk. I sincerely apologize," Keith said with no sign of sarcasm in his voice.

It was Krolia's turn, "I'm sorry about my idiot son dear. I'm sorry you had to set up a fake appointment to talk to him. Im-"

"Actually that part isn't fake," she interrupted. "I do have a bike that needs repair."

"Oh well in that case you should bring it by the shop anytime this week. Keith would gladly fix it for you," Krolia jabbed her elbow into Keith, "won't you?"

Keith nodded "of course. Just text me when you want to stop by. I'll make sure I'm here or my mom." He gave Luka a smile that made her want to melt.

"Now that that's settled, why don't you come in and join us for dinner. We have plenty of extra. Kolivan is off on business, and my little Acxa said she's going to be late. So please, join us," Krolia offered.

Luka shook her head. "I appreciate the offer but I have a friend with me. I don't want to keep her waiting," she apologized. The offer was kind, and any other day she would have accepted. But she didn't want to bring Romelle into this. And Romelle could read her emotions and reactions like a book. She always had. And if she was there while Luka ate with Krolia and Keith… well Romelle would quickly figure out who her "mystery man" was.

"Nonsense, the more the merrier," Krolia said rejecting her declination. "Keith, go with her and let her friend know that she is invited to dinner. I do hope she accepts," she said cheerfully.

Keith sighed, "c'mon Luka." He ushered her to follow as they walked to the Mercedes. "I'm sorry, but my mom… she won't take no for an answer. Especially when it comes to her hospitality."

"That's ok. If Romelle wasn't here, I probably would've said yes. Your mom is cool, and kind of scary," Luka admitted.

Keith chuckled, "I'll have to let her know you think that. It'll make her day."

Maybe dinner wasn't going to be that bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give some flesh and bone to Romelle's background, and also Luka's pov on Lotura. 
> 
> Can't wait to see the dynamic between, Romelle/Keith/Luka. And also Krolia/Romelle. Cus in VLD there's no doubt in my mind she became Krolia's adopted daughter.


	17. Another Late Night Ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow 100 hits, I can't believe it.
> 
> I legit thought that this story would get 10 hits max. 
> 
> Thank you for the continued support, it means a lot to me.

Keith was shocked to see Luka show up at his place that night. Even more so when she was upset thinking her was mad at her.

He was never mad at her. He was busy with blade stuff and thought "k thanks" was an appropriate response. Apparently he was wrong.

And thus found himself having dinner with her, his mom, and this other girl Romelle.

He thought Romelle was a but weird, but Luka had told him that she was "free spirited". And she was right. Romelle upon entering his place was in love with it's "aura", and she wasn't being sarcastic. It was going to be an… interesting night.

The four sat around the not often used dinner table. But every Monday night, his mother made it a point to have a real family dinner. Him, his mother, Acxa, and Kolivan would have a sit down dinner, which was different than their regular sit in front of the TV dinner.

Keith had grown accustomed to the nightly dinner, and actually found himself enjoying the sense of family that the dinners had created. Kolivan was his mother's second cousin, and Acxa… well Acxa was Acxa. His sister, but not by blood. But that didn't matter to him. They were his family, and he loved them all.

But now, sitting here in front of Luka as his mother talked about how cute he was as a baby to her and Romelle was less than ideal. It was awkward. She even offered to show them her massive collection of baby photos. Romelle instantly accepted, Luka, on the other hand thankfully passed on the offer.

Once Krolia took Romelle off to laugh at his photos, he looked at a blushing Luka, not that he himself wasn't blushing. Probably more so.

"I am so sorry, my mom… she has this tendency to inadvertently embarrass me," Keith admitted.

Luka giggled. There it was, that heart warming giggle that made him smile. They both stopped and awkwardly looked away.

"Well this looks like a fun date?" A familiar voice said.

Luka turned to see Acxa had entered without anyone noticing. "Acxa? What are- I thought you weren't coming," Keith pointed out.

Acxa tossed a duffle bag over towards the main living room. "Yeah well I got off early and well… I have to do some laundry. Where's mom?"

"She's in the other room with Romelle," Luka interrupted.

Acxa tilted her head slightly as she peered over to check out the present company. "She cute," was all Acxa said. "I'm going to go introduce myself."

Keith leaned back in his chair, "I don't think she your type," he tried to tell her, but it was to late. Acxa was already introducing herself to Romelle and taking a seat beside her and his mom.

As if this night could get any more embarrassing. He placed his hands over his face and groaned. He peaked through his fingers to see that Luka was still there.

"Is she her type?" He asked Luka.

Luka could only shrug. "I told you, she's free spirited," she found herself giggling at the explanation. It was honestly the best one to use when describing Romelle.

They sat in another period of awkward silence, occasionally catching the other looking for to long.

"So uhhhh, do you often like to visit the lower ring?" Keith asked. It wasn't the worst question to ask, but the second he did, he couldn't help but feel stupid.

Luka glanced back at him. "Oh no. I uhhh.. haven't really come here. Until the other night when you took me to Sincline's."

"That was your first trip," Keith scoffed. He wasn't surprised. Upper class citizens often didn't visit the "vile filth" that was the lower ring. "So why now?"

"It's complicated.. especially around current company," Luka answered. Keith turned to look to his mom, Acxa, and Romelle sitting on the couch laughing at something. If he had to guess, it was probably some embarrassing story that had to do with his love for elephants. And when did they start drinking wine?

Did his mom not know that Romelle was only seventeen, at best? And Acxa was barely a year older. Why did his mom suddenly feel the need to bring out the booze? It was a discussion for another time.

"Hey mom," he shouted. "Going for a ride, we'll be back." Luka looked as the woman nodded as if this were a normal occurrence. She then made brief eye contact with Romelle who gave her a wink. Romelle then pulled out her phone real quick before putting it back inside of her designer handbag.

Within seconds Luka felt her thigh vibrate. Romelle had just texted her. Nervously she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

**R: have fun babe ;) ;)**

There were also a few emojis sent as well but Luka didn't want to have Keith catching a glimpse. Romelle could be quite over enthusiastic, which is why she sent about five or so eggplants.

Even learning that Keith wasn't very well versed in text lingo, she had a suspicious feeling that he would know what the eggplant was referring to.

She tucked the phone away into her back pocket and caught up with Keith who had apparently already left the place. "Hey wait up," she said as she chased him down.

Keith was already down on the first floor inside the garage pulling out a bike. It was the same one she had ridden on a few nights ago.

The night had gotten even colder, it was probably somewhere in the low 60's if she had to guess. She wasn't prepared for the chill in the air. And she certainly wasn't dressed appropriately for a night ride on a bike. Sure the jeans helped, but the short sleeved shirt was not going to keep her warm.

Before she could say something a red jacket had found its way onto her face. "Here," Keith said. "It should keep you warm."

She took the jacket off of her head, luckily she her hair was already messy so it didn't bother her too much. She was about to have helmet hair anyways. "Uhhh thanks," she said, examining the jacket. She couldn't pinpoint where exactly, but she was certain she had seen this jacket somewhere before.

Maybe it was last week on Keith's first day, when he was only a mysterious, beautiful new kid. Now, Keith was… her friend? She still wasn't sure. She remembered how badly she wanted to kiss him after the party, but she chalked that up to Pidge's crazy good drinks.

She mounted the bike and wrapped her arms around him. Scenes from that night started to replay in her head. How kind he was, how respectful he was to her while she was intoxicated. But most importantly, how handsome he was.

She clung tighter as he started to speed up, weaving in and out of the traffic. This ride was different than the last one, there were actually cars on the streets. But it's like they weren't even there. The way Keith drove was flawless, as if he were a mere extension of bike itself. As proud of her racing skills as she was, she felt like she was a student, and Keith was the master.

They drove towards a hill near the outskirts of the town. "Where are we going?" She shouted into his ear.

"It's one of my favorite places to get away. Just wait, you'll see," he shouted back. Luka could almost feel the smirk on Keith's face.

A few more minutes and Keith slowed down next to an old dirt road. It was fenced off and had a "No Trespassing" sign attached.

He parked around the corner and covered the bike with a tarp. He's definitely done this before, Luka thought.

"C'mon," he said grabbing her by the hand as he pulled her to the fence. They stood side by side looking at the gate, she estimated that it was at least ten feet tall, and it had climbing prevention spikes at the top. "So much for climbing," she said defeated.

"Not unless you want to get a nasty scar," Keith replied. He rolled up his left pant leg to reveal a lengthy scar that trekked up from his lower calf to near the bend of his knee. Luka gasped, she couldn't imagine receiving an injury like that.

"That must have been terribly painful" was all she could say. Stupid, of course it was painful, she told herself.

Keith just laughed, "your right, it was really painful. Especially for a ten year old."

Luka blinked with shock. "Ten years old. You got that when you were a child?"

Keith laughed again, "Yup. I had always climbed the fence, but didn't notice the barbed wiring they added. It tore my calf and I would've bled out had a pedestrian jogger not found me." Keith pulled back a small crawl sized hole in the fence that Luka didn't notice before.

He guided her along the hiking trail telling her more about his scar. "My family was devastated, my leg got infected and the doctors didn't think that I was going to make it," he admitted.

There was shock, and then there was whatever expression Luka's face was making as he told her his story. He almost died when he was just ten.

"But," he said interrupting her tragic thoughts, "clearly I'm not dead." He gestured his arms as he displayed himself in front of her. "Well, here we are," he stated.

Luka looked around and saw nothing but an old water tower. "That?" She asked pointing to the water tower.

Keith smiled as he looked up. "Technically it's that," he told her as he adjusted her pointing arm up towards the top of the water tower.

"We're- we're going up there?" She hesitantly asked.

Keith nodded, "hell yeah. Like I said, best spot in the whole city."

Luka hated heights, but she couldn't let Keith know. He would tease her. Keith wasn't afraid of anything as far as she knew. He drove what Coran would call "recklessly", he snuck into private property constantly, and he nearly died once. Her being afraid of heights was just laughable at this point.

Keith watched her as she grabbed on to the ladder. She was hesitant, and maybe a little fearful. "Not afraid of heights are we?" He teased. "Of course not!" She shot back at him.

He laughed. She was obviously lying, but he wasn't going to poke further. At least while they were up there. He followed her up and saw her clinging to the guard rail as if her life depended on it.

"You're looking the wrong way," he told her.

"What?"

"You're looking down. That's the wrong direction. You want to look out." Keith gestured outwards.

Luka looked out and was awestruck. She could see the entire city. She could see a lot of the city from her own house, on her own balcony. But this view was phenomenal. It showed everything.

The northern rolling hills in the distance where the upper ring was located. The crowded lower ring tiers to the South and the West. The homes and apartments, the financial district, and even the docks and the ocean towards the far East.

"This is amazing," she gasped. "The city looks so alive. The lights, it's all so…" her voice trailed off.

"Yeah," Keith added.

"Yeah," she repeated as she slowly released her death grip on the guard rail. She felt that somehow Keith would keep her from falling. She stepped back and bumped into the water tower itself.

She turned to examine it, there was graffiti plastered all over the surface. But three words stood out. Three names to be exact.

She couldn't make out the first name, it was scratched out. She could only make out the beginning "S".

The next name was "Keith". It was written with the same thing that wrote the first name.

The last name was "Acxa". It was written in a completely different style. She probably wrote it herself.

"Yeah, you aren't the first person to come up here with me," Keith told her. Her placed his hand over the crossed out name.

"It was Shiro," he told her, answering her unasked question. "He was the one who showed me this place when we were just children. He said it was illegal and dangerous, and that's all I needed to hear," Keith paused as Luka watched the pain in his eyes take hold. "We would come up here all the time. Every Friday night to be exact… until he moved. Even after I would still come here hoping he would show up. He never did." Keith paused and Luka placed her hand on his shoulder. She could feel how tense he was. It must have been a painful memory, and somehow it got worse.

"I crossed his name out the friday after my dad died. I thought that maybe, just maybe when he died Shiro would show up. But he didn't. And then I find out he didn't even know my dad died. He just… forgot about me." Keith started to cry.

He dropped to his knees. Luka dropped as well, wrapping him in her arms, doing her best to comfort him.

She let him cry until he couldn't anymore. This must have been built up for a long, long time. The sat in silence for several more minutes that seemed longer than the ones Keith spent crying.

Both their phones vibrated but neither moved to answer or respond. All that mattered to Luka was letting Keith know that it was ok. That he was okay. She wanted him to know that she wouldn't forget about him, she could never forget him.

Keith started to chuckle, "you know it's funny. Climbing up here I figured that if anyone was going to fall, it'd be you. But I'd be there to catch you. Instead-"

"Instead I caught you," she finished.

"Thank you." Keith said as he grabbed her by the hands and removed himself from her grip. "And I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

"For… this mess. I didn't mean-"

Luka silenced him with her lips on his. She didn't mean to, she just wanted him to not doubt himself, or be upset that he opened up. It was stupid and she knew it, but quiznack did it feel good to be stupid.

Keith couldn't believe it. Luka had kissed him. He was a crying mess, and acting like a damn idiot in front of her, but she kissed him. He couldn't remember the last time he kissed someone, but he was certain that it didn't make him feel this way.

He pulled her closer and just gave in. It was more exhilarating than riding through the streets, than the rush he felt as the Red Paladin. It was hard to describe, but he didn't want to describe it, he wanted to enjoy it. For it to never it.

But eventually they both had to breath. They pulled back when both of their phones started to ring again.

Luka rested back off of the tips of her toes, and gasped, "wow."

Keith looked down into her eyes and whispered, "wow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh snap!!!! THEY KISSED!! but will it be all fluff from here? 
> 
> Not likely
> 
> Muahahhaha. Love y'all thanks for the support.


	18. Tell Me Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Romelle's story after Keith and Luka left. Plus a little glimpse into who Romelle is within the context of this story. 
> 
> And we'll get some some pure fluff. You'll get what I mean.

It didn't take that long for Romelle to figure that they were down in the lower ring for more than just apologizing on Lotor's behalf. 

It also didn't take her long to figure out exactly who Luka's "mystery man" was. Keith, whom she found out the new kids name was, was Luka's little crush. 

She just knew, Luka had an obviously tell. Everytime they were talking to some boy that Luka found cute or attractive, she got nervous and would play with her hair. Even from the car on a moonless night, she could see Luka doing it. 

So when her and Keith approached her and he offered her to stay for dinner, she leapt at the chance to watch Luka squirm. It wasn't in a cruel or mean way. She just wanted to see how deep this crush went, and if it went both ways. 

And she was right. Luka was definitely crushing on Keith. But what surprised her even more was that Keith was also just as easy to read. He was nervous and awkward, but a cute awkward. The kind of awkward that made you want to be around him. And his mother was just amazing. 

The woman was so happy that her son wasn't alone anymore. Clearly there was more to that story, but she didn't want to pry. She had only just met them. The woman was certainly intimidating but that was just until she got to see and judge your character. She told her that she was hesitant when learning she was raised in the upper ring. 

Romelle understood, this woman was a single mom and couldn't afford to let people in, especially those who thought they were better. But Romelle wasn't. She was no better or worse than anyone else, at least that's how she lived her life. But she could definitely see herself becoming friends with the woman. 

They bonded over their love for making Daibazaltea a better place for everyone, not just the upper ring. And quickly found herself being invited to work with the Blade of Marmora. She knew the truth of them, having spent every weekend for the past two years in the lower ring volunteering at homeless shelters and teen centers. She'd seen first hand how helpful the Blades were. But she kept it to herself, no one would believe her anyways. 

Then Romelle found herself being introduced to Keith's cute sister. Well, adopted sister that is. They clicked instantly finding they both had a strong love of easily embarrassing their closest friends. Acxa, the girls name was. And had she not known that she was the adopted sister she would've assumed that her and Krolia were blood relatives. 

Acxa was a breath of fresh air. She'd spent too many days with the stuck up aristocratic crowds that walked the halls of Altean Academy. Sure there were "real" people there as well, but Acxa and Krolia were the real heart and soul of Daibazaltea. Two strong woman who worked and provided for themselves, and in Krolia's case, for a son. 

But the best introduction she got that night was to a giant black ball of fluff named Kosmo. Krolia had told her that it was rare for Kosmo to be so friendly with someone right away. "It's my aura. I'm just one with animals and nature sometimes," she exclaimed. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, she wasn't met with rolling eyes. 

Kosmo was a delight, and the literally the fluffiest thing she'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. She never believed in love and acceptance until tonight. The night she met the Koganes. Here, she felt home. More than she ever did in at home with her family, or at school surrounded by her friends. 

She was in the presence of strangers she'd just met, but she they weren't strangers. Not anymore. 

Eventually, after she finished the glass of wine she had been nursing, she was driving of course, she realized that Keith and Luka had been gone for a while. 

"Where do you think they went?" She asked both of them. Romelle was laying in the carpeted floor while Kosmo snuggled himself at her hip placing his head on her stomach. 

Acxa slumped down off of the couch and started to stroked Kosmo with one of her feet. Krolia readjusted herself and sprawled out over the couch. It made her like them even more. They were comfortable, comfortable with her, and not afraid to be themselves. Her family was never like this, they were proper. They appealed to the ideals of the upper ring. 

"They're probably making out somewhere," Krolia teased. 

"Mom!" Acxa said as she blushed. "They are not making out." 

"You didn't you see how awkward they were during dinner. Making lovey dovey glances at each other. Aren't I right Romelle?" 

Romelle giggled as Kosmo licked her arm. "Definitely." 

"I'm going to text him," Acxa said putting down her half filled glass and pulling out his phone. 

Romelle copied her figuring she should ask Luka if she's okay and to let her know when they were going to go. As much as she loved sitting on the floor in the Koganes home, she did have to go home and be the "proper daughter" again. 

Nothing. "Did Keith respond?" 

Acxa shook her head. "Nope. Hmmm maybe they are making out." 

Romelle giggled again, not just because Kosmo's nose was tickling her midriff, but because she knew Luka. The only time Luka had ever kissed anyone was through a dare. Not that she judged her for it. She knew that Luka was particular in who she opened up to, and even more so in who she would be "physical" with. 

They sat in a comfortable silence as Jeopardy quietly played in the background. Only time they would speak would be to answer the questions. It was mundane, but absolute perfection to Romelle. If she could spend every night like this she would. 

Finally after the second Jeopardy rerun was about halfway through, her's and Acxa's phones buzzed nearly simultaneously. "They're on their way back." Acxa announced. 

Quiznack. She was going to have to leave the Koganes and Kosmo. But at least she was welcomed back anytime. And she was going to abuse that offer to the point where they were either going to love her as family or get sick of her like family. Either way she was determined to extend her family. To have a family that acted like a real family, not the ideal family. 

Krolia had slowly fallen asleep which caused her and Acxa to silently giggle. "I think she drank most of this," Acxa said holding up the empty bottle of wine. Romelle only had half a glass, and Acxa maybe had two. The rest was downed by Krolia. 

"She doesn't do this that often. Only when she hosts," Acxa explained. "So just about once a week. But usually Uncle Kolivan is here and he drinks half the bottle with her." 

"Krolia has a brother?" 

"A cousin. But they grew up together and are basically siblings. Similar to me and Keith." 

Romelle sat up and faced the girl. Her skin was shining due to the dim lights and the glow of the TV. She was actually really pretty. "So how did you become part of this family?" 

Acxa spent the next ten minutes explaining her and the Koganes background to Romelle. Romelle instantly took back every time she thought her life was hard. 

Ten minutes later Kosmo lifted his head off Romelle's lap. "don't tell me your tired of getting your ears scratched so soon." 

Apparently he did as he bolted to the door. Romelle pouted but immediately understood wby. Keith was back. Kosmo could sense that his master was home. 

Acxa and her rose up from the couch. After filling her in on the lives of Keith and her, they moved Krolia to her bedroom. They sat with Kosmo and watched friends reruns, Romelle's favorite show. The people closest to her would say that she was the Phoebe of her friends. 

"Luka," She said mid yawn, "bout time. It's late and I don't know about you, but I'm a little sleepy." 

Acxa stretched. "Same Keith. I was going to go home but now… dibs," she said with a smile. 

Keith groaned, "you can't call dibs on MY bed." 

Romelle giggled while Acxa shrugged. She clearly didn't care about Keith's protest. Then Romelle noticed something. Keith's lips had a glossy look to it. She then narrowed in on Luka who was trying to cover something on her neck. 

"Holy quiznack!" She said. 

But before she could press further, Luka grabbed her by the arm and hurried her out the door. She looked back on last time to give Acxa friendly smile followed by a devious wink letting her know that she would text her with her news. 

Romelle took her place in the driver seat. She was going to take the long way home tonight. There was much to discuss. 

"Tell me everything!"

Luka turned away looking out the window unintentionally revealing the small hickey. 

"So you gonna explain this then?" She said while flicking the hickey. 

"Quiznack Romelle, what hell?!?!" She said, rubbing the freshly given hickey.

"Well you weren't telling me anything. I'm not an idiot, I knew you liked him, I saw you play with your hair. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"But I don't even know him. It was just a heat of the moment make out." 

"Ohhhhhh, so now it's a make out. I thought nothing happened?" She said in a playful matter. 

Luka grinned slightly. "Oh shut up. Yes we made out and it was great." 

"Tongue?" 

"Tongue." 

They laughed at that. It was one of their inside jokes. 

"So what did you do? While I was… you know." 

"Letting someone shove their tongue down your throat," she teased which was followed by Luka playfully smacking her arm. 

"You're lucky you're driving." 

"Sure I am. But I was just doing nothing. Me, Krolia, and Acxa were just being normal. Laying around watching Jeopardy. And I played with Kosmo. The cutest little fluff ever." 

Luka chuckled, "lucky. I don't think Kosmo liked that I spent the night in his bed." 

Romelle slammed on the breaks to over exaggerate her shock. "You what?!? I can't believe you slept with him!!!" My little Luka all grown up," she wiped a fake tear from her face.

"It's not like that. I fell asleep on his couch and next thing I know I woke up in his bed… alone." 

"Suuuuuure."

Luka rolled her eyes and smiled, "ugh you're the worst." 

"So is that all you did? I heard Acxa call you cute. I would assume that you would flirt back, being you." 

"Oh I definitely did. But it was all just for fun. We actually have a lot in common." 

"So you shot her down." 

"I didn't say that," she teased. "But I definitely want to see her again. And Krolia. And I will probably die if I don't see Kosmo again. So don't screw this up with the pretty new kid. Because if I have to choose between that dog and you… well I'm going to miss you." 

Romelle deserved that flick on the ear. "Rude," Luka teased. 

The drive back home wasn't nearly long enough. Soon enough they rolled up to her chateau that she called home. 

She said goodbye to Luka and watched her drive off down the mile long driveway. Only Bandor and the live in maids were home. Her parents were away on business, so she wasn't sneaky in the slightest. 

She walked to her bedroom which was the size of the entire Kogane home. She changed into a tank top and pajama shorts and fell onto her bed. Somehow it wasn't as comfortable as it's always been. For some reason the carpet at Keith's seemed comfier. 

Regardless, the bed did it's job as she drifted into a decent slumber. But her last thoughts were of how amazing the night was, and how thankful she was that Luka brought her along. 

Luka just possibly changed her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said before. I wholeheartedly believe that Romelle becomes an adopted Kogane.
> 
> Been toying around with the idea of doing short little separate POV chapters of our other characters and their interactions based on Keith/Luka. 
> 
> Kind of flesh them out some more. Make them feel not like background characters, but important. So when they have big moments, it won't seem like we don't need to care.


	19. Just Friends

Keith sat on his couch rubbing Kosmo's belly. It was well into the night. But Keith was constantly up late. His mom hated it, she claimed a growing boy such as himself needed to sleep more.

But how could he possibly sleep after her? After that kiss? He brought his free hand and gently touched his lips. It was just to much to believe that a mysterious pretty rich girl would kiss him.

Where did he go right? One minute he was on the ground crying about being abandoned, the next he was on the verge of tearing off her clothes. It was passionate and intense, luckily, Luka practiced restraint. As much as she claimed she didn't mean to kiss him, he knew that she wanted to.

She told him when she was drunk. And drunk sayings are sober thoughts. But he had to stop, he didn't overstep or push to hard. He wanted this to go right. But could it?

They lived two completely different lives. She was wealthy and lived in the upper ring. He was poor, worked his whole life, was afraid to let anyone in that wasn't his mom or Acxa, and lived in the lower ring.

He remembered what he was told. People at school tended to treat lower ring citizens like less than people. Sure she was different, but that was only in private. She was surrounded by people that certainly wouldn't treat him with respect. Lotor was her friend.

He wouldn't be okay with what happened. And that was just going to make his already complicated life even more so. He just got back into the racing scene, just transferred to a new high class school, and Lotor already didn't like him. But if he found out he kissed Luka, someone whom he seemed close with, well that's just another complication.

Keith knew what he should do. He had to just stop this before it grew. Just say that they made a mistake and that they don't even know each other that well. But that was never going to work. He couldn't bring himself to do that to her or himself. Plus Acxa had told him how great Romelle was.

"Don't quiznack this up. Romelle is great. Kosmo loves her. And mom just adores her, they're like the same person," Acxa had playfully warned him.

Which only made things tougher because he knew that he didn't want to do that. There was just something about that red headed altean that made him not care about his problems.

Like he told Acxa… that kiss was something else.

-

Luka sat wide awake as she surfed the internet. She was looking for any sign of Keith's social media. He had nothing, which didn't surprise her at all. Then she decided to look at the Blade of Marmora official pages. Sure enough there were dozens of pictures of Keith.

Him helping little children, him laughing with Acxa and others, him and his mom posing for a pic in front of one of the teen centers. She could go on and on, but one caught her eye. It was Krolia, and her name was linked.

She clicked on it, and thankfully her profile wasn't private. It would've been weird if she had to add Keith's mom before she had a real conversation with her, outside of setting up an appointment.

She browsed through the literal hundreds of photos she uploaded. Most were advertisements about the latest good the Blades were doing. But the further she explored, the more she found. Baby and toddler pictures of Keith. She was pretty certain that Keith had no idea.

But she was happy she found them, baby Keith was adorable. Luka even found a picture of him, his mom, and his father. Keith definitely got his looks from his father, but the more she looked, the more she could actually see the family resemblance between him and Krolia.

Luka stopped browsing around midnight. She was definitely crushing on him, and after that kiss…

Well after that kiss she knew he was into her too. But that was the problem. They had very different lives. She was upper ring and had very "proper" friends. Keith was "lower ring scum" as Lotor would put it. She didn't want to put Keith through having to deal with Lotor.

Lotor would be a major problem if they were going to pursue a relationship. He would constantly talk down to Keith and try to make him feel worthless. It would destroy something that hadn't really even begun.

No. She had to settle for being Keith's friend. It would suck, but it was better than letting someone come between them and drive them apart.

_12:03 am_   
_K: Hey are you still up?_

_12:04 am_   
_Yeah I am… what's up?_

_12:04 am_   
_I… I wanted to talk about that kiss_

_12:05 am_   
_Me too actually_

_12:06 am_   
_Really? What did you want to talk about?_

_12:06 am_   
_That kiss…. Maybe it happened too fast. Maybe we should just be friends maybe_

_12:07am_   
_U think that too? Good. I didn't want to be a bad guy._

_12:08 am_   
_Me neither. I liked it a lot lol. But I think we should slow down. Be friends._

_1_ _2:10 am_

_friends would be fine_

_12:12 am_   
_So do u want me to still bring my bike_

_12:15 am_   
_Yeah.. just hmu when u want to stop by. Like I said I'll make sure my mom or I am there_

_12:16 am_   
_Cool_

_12:16 am_   
_Cool_

-

The next day school felt like a total drag. Luka did her normal routine of classes and gossip. Romelle kept her promise and didn't tell anyone of their trip to Keith's. She wore her nike running jacket in order to cover up the hickey.

But it apparently didn't work, Allura noticed immediately. "Where did you get that?"

She was frozen, she didn't know what she was going to say. "oh she had it yesterday. Probably from her mystery man. She didn't tell us ALL the details," Romelle said coming to the rescue.

Romelle smiled and winked. "Well that's just rich," Allura stated jealously. "Sorry Luka. I'm a tad jealous. Lotor and I haven't really been… close lately."

Luka offered a comforting smile, but found her eyes drifting to a handsome new kid that was passing by.

"That new boy seems to look at you a lot," Romelle pointed out. She had a devilish smirk on her face. Maybe Romelle knowing about her and Keith wasn't the best idea, she was going to give her hell at every opportunity.

"Well it certainly helps that he is attractive. Very attractive. How did we not notice before?" Allura asked.

"Hmmm, I guess you're right," Romelle confirmed. "He's very handsome, don't you think Luka?"

Luka wanted to roll her eyes at Romelle. "Uhhh yeah. Keith's very handsome."

Mistake.

"Keith?" It was Lotor with Merla

"Quiznack," Luka whispered under her breath.

"So that's that lowlife's name. And look, he made lowlife friends," Lotor stated as Luka watched him be greeted by Shiro. "Typical Shirogane. Always taking in strays."

"Oh I'm sure that Keith is probably a nice guy with a unique story," Romelle said. Lotor glowered at her.

"Why do you say that? Have you… talked with that scum?"

"Of course, we have trigonometry together. He sits right best to me. I'm a friendly person so I introduced myself."

Only Romelle could get away with saying that. Even Lotor, despite his constant need to control everything and everyone around him, seemed to give Romelle more leash.

Lotor huffed, wrapped his arm around Allura's shoulder and walked away with Merla beside them.

"Do you actually have class with Keith?"

Romelle shrugged, "I think so. I wasn't paying attention the day he showed up but I'm like 90% we do. But it's not until sixth period so I'll find out after lunch."

They walked together checking their phones looking for any cute or funny things they could tag each other in. "So you guys going to go on a date soon?" Romelle finally asked as they both entered Marine Biology.

"What? No."

The two girls sat down next to each other in the back of the classroom by the windows. "What do you mean no? You both clearly like each other."

"Well I told him that maybe we should just be friends for now. We barely know each other, and he agreed," Luka answered shyly.

Romelle opened her mouth to say something but their teacher entered. "Don't worry. I'll fix this," she whispered to Luka which didn't really make her feel good. What was she going to fix.

Suddenly her phone vibrated, she sneakily pulled it out and read the text. It was from Keith.

_1:21 pm_   
_Are you free tonight?_

_1:21 pm_   
_Yes. But I thought we were going to go slow_

_1:21 pm_   
_Lol that's not what I meant. U should bring the bike so I can start to fix it._

_1:22 pm_   
_Unless you don't want to anymore_

_1:22 pm_   
_That would be great. Just tell ur mom I can't stay 4 dinner this time_

_1:23 pm_   
_No prob… so how bout like 6?_

_1:23 pm_   
_Yeah sounds good_

_1:23 pm_   
_See u then_

After class she told Romelle that she was going to take her bike to Keith's. Romelle giggled and claimed that it was totally a date. She also offered to pick her up, but Luka declined. Luka knew all too well that if she were, that her and Romelle would stay for dinner because Romelle would sucker her into it. She always did.

-

Keith wasn't prepared to get ambushed by Romelle during sixth period. But the blonde altean surprised him by sitting next to him. No one sat beside him, at least during the three days he'd been at the school. "Uhhh hey Romelle… what's up?"

"Just friends!!"

The loudness of her voice startled him. But he knew what she was referring to. If Keith had told his best friend about what happened at the water tower, then there's no doubt Luka told hers. Unless it was actually Acxa who ratted him out, and then Romelle confronted Luka and she gave in and confirmed it. Either way, she knew. And she knew about their conversation last night.

"I mean yeah. We don't know each other and well… what if she doesn't like me in the end."

"That's a load of quiznacking bullshit and you know it. You're just afraid," she pointed out.

He wanted to rebuttal, but she was right. He did like the girl but he also was afraid of all the bullshit that could happen. He talked himself out of the possibility.

"Well then I'm going to need your help."

Romelle had the brightest smile he'd ever seen, "it's about time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah Romelle ships them big time.

**Author's Note:**

> There's a good chance that only one or two people read this. But those who do, I appreciate ya


End file.
